,1  tWt  M\mhsk,l  . 


PRINCETON,     N.    J. 


\am/e^ /y.  /^,y^  S  ^^^9£.  ^(^^.J.£fl^) 


Si' f /ion  ..».Q:.C:>.4.1d 

Shelf. Number 


RA^MBLES 


ROUND  REFORMED  LANDS, 


BY      , 

REV.  JAMES  I.'gOOD,  D.  D., 

Author  of  "  The  Origin  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Germany. 


READING,  PA, : 

DANIEL  MILLER,  PUBLISHER. 

1889. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congreee,  in  the  year  1889, 

BY  DANIEL  MILLER, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  GongreBB,  at  Washington. 


TO  MY  PASTOR, 

REV.  B.  BAUSMAN,  D.  D., 

TO  WHOM  I   OWE,   IN    MY  BOYHOOD,   MY   FIRST  IMPULSE  TOWARD  FOREIGN 
TRATEL, 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED, 


PREFACE. 


This  volume  is  the  result  of  three  trips  to  the 
fatherland.  On  the  first,  the  writer  found  it 
very  difficult  to  find  places  interesting  in  the 
history  of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  So, 
after  careful  study  of  her  history,  the  next  two 
excursions  to  Germany  and  Switzerland  were  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  sites  sacred  in  our  Church 
history.  As  the  result  of  travel  and  reading,  a 
great  deal  of  material  has  gathered  on  his  hands 
which  it  is  a  pleasure  to  give  to  those  who  may 
be  interested  in  the  subject.  By  blending  his 
personal  reminiscences  with  the  history,  he  has 
hoped  to  make  the  book  more  interesting.  Of 
course,  there  is  time  for  only  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  history  of  each  place  ;*  but  he  has  endeav- 
ored to  describe  the  present  condition  as  fully 
as  possible. 


*  A  fuller  description  can  be  found  in  The  Okiqin  of  the  Reformed 
Chukch  in  Gebmany,  published  by  Daniel  Miller,  Reading,  Pa. 


VI  PREFACE. 

The  object  of  the  book  is  to  interest  the  reader 
in  the  history  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Ger- 
many and  Switzerland.  This  branch  of  the 
Calvinistic  Church  has  had  a  great  history. 
Germany  owes  much  to  her.  She  once  occupied 
a  much  more  prominent  position  in  the  world's 
affairs  than  she  does  now.  These  splendid  facts 
ought  to  be  brought  to  the  notice  of  her  de- 
scendants in  this  far-off  land,  that  they  may  be 
kept  in  the  faith  and  gain  an  inspiration  for  her 
future. 

JAMES  I.  GOOD. 

Philadelphia,  Oct.  9,  1889. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Chapter  I. — Zwingli-Land,  ...  9 
Chapter  II. — Zurich,  ...  21 

Chapter  III. — Berne,  ....  34 
Chapter  IV. — Geneva,       ...  46 

Chapter  V.— Basle,  ....  59 
Chapter  VI. — Strasburg,   ...  71 

Chapter  VII. — Heidelberg,  ...  85 
Chapter  VIII. — Heidelberg  (continued),  97 
Chapter  IX.— The  Palatinate,  .  .114 
Chapter  X.— Franktbrd,    ...  125 

Chapter  XI. — Bavaria,  .         .         .135 

Chapter  XII. — Marburg  and  Herborn,  148 
Chapter  XIIL— The  Rhine,  .         .     161 

Chapter  XIV.— Treves,  ...  176 
Chapter  XIV.— Elberfeld,  .  .  .187 
Chapter  XVI. — Muehlheim  and  Kaisers- 

werth,  ....  201 
Chapter  XVII. — Emden  and  Bremen,  .  215 
Chapter  XVIII.— Central  Germany,  229 

Chapter  XIX.— Berlin,  .         .         .242 

Chapter  XX. — Berlin  (continued),    .         257 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Heidelberg  Castle  in  1620,        .       Frontispiece. 
Zurich,         .....  Page  21 

Frederick  the  Third,        ...  "89 

Tersteegen's  House  at  Muehlheim,        .     "  201 


RAMBLES  ROUND  REFORMED  LANDS. 


CHAPTER    I. 
Zwingli-Laud. 

It  is  Fourth  of  July.  But  liow  strange  a 
Fourth  to  an  American !  No  sight  of  fire-works 
or  sound  of  shooting-crackers.  Last  night  we 
spent  in  a  very  unpatriotic  way  at  Ragatz,  wait^ 
ing  for  the  King  of  Saxony  to  arrive  at  the  hotel. 
A  real  live  king  is  a  curiosity  to  an  American  ; 
so  we  stayed  up  to  see  him.  He  arrived,  but  he 
was  not  at  all  different  from  other  men.  He 
bowed  very  courteously  to  us  as  we  rose  to  do  him 
honor.  So  we  prepared  for  the  Fourth  of  JVily 
by  doing  honors  to  a  king.  What  strange  patri- 
ots we  are  ! 

Ragatz  is  a  famous  bathing  place  in  north-east- 
ern Switzerland.  It  contains  near  it  a  great  nat- 
ural curiosity,  the  gorge  of  the  Tamina,  a  gorge 
from  30  to  50  feet  wide,  through  which  rushes  a 
brawling  torrent.  Higli  above  you  for  hundreds 
2^ 


10  RAMBLES    ROUND 

of  feet  is  the  nioiintain,  wliile  the  gorge  is  so  nar- 
row that  the  one  mountain  seems  to  lean  over  and 
rest  on  the  other,  and  yet  does  not  touch  it.  In 
this  gloomy  gorge  is  a  bath-house,  to  which  many 
come  to  be  treated  for  various  diseases.  To  Ra- 
gatz  it  was  that  Zwingli  came  to  rest  after  his  her- 
culean labors  at  Zurich.  But  he  did  not  rest 
long,  for  the  j^lague  broke  out  at  Zurich,  and, 
faithful  shepherd  that  he  Avas,  he  hastened  home 
to  attend  to  the  sick.  In  so  doing,  he  was  himself 
brought  down  very  near  to  the  gates  of  death  by 
the  plague. 

A  strange  Fourth  of  July.  No  heat,  nothing 
but  cold.  It  is  an  Arctic  Fourth,  for  Switzerland 
does  not  seem  far  from  the  North  Pole.  We  are 
at  a  little  out-of-the-way  station  in  north-eastern 
Switzerland  called  Buchs.  The  place  has  only 
two  houses  in  it,  a  railway  station  and  a  country 
hotel.  And  at  this  quiet  little  village,  on  this 
strange  Fourth  of  July,  I  ask  how  I  can  be  taken 
to  Wildhaus,  the  birth-place  of  Zwingli.  Wild- 
haus  ?  Wildhaus  ?  Nobody  seems  to  know  any- 
thing about  such  n  place.  We  inquired  of  the 
ticket-agent,  of  the  baggage-mastei-,  but  nobody 
knew.  It  was  a  dismal  outlook  for  a  Fourth  of 
July  here,  alone  at  this  station,  waiting  till  late 


REFORMED    LANDS.  11 

in  the  afternoon  for  the  next  train  t<3  take  me 
away.  So  I  try  another  question.  Perhaps  they 
know  about  Zwingli.  Oh,  yes,  they  know  of  him  ; 
but  about  Wiklhaus  they  know  nothing.  At  last 
one  of  them  suggests  that  I  go  across  the  street 
and  ask  the  proprietor  of  the  village  hotel.  But 
he  shakes  his  head  as  ignorantly  as  the  rest.  But 
stop,  he  has  an  idea.  He  says  :  "  Perhaps  it  is 
Wildhaus  you  mean,"  pronouncing  it  as  if  the 
last  syllable  rhymed  with  '  goose.'  I  tell  him  it 
does  not  matter  how  they  pronounced  it,  but  I 
want  to  get  to  the  place  where  Zwingli  was  born, 
"  That  is  the  place,"  he  replies,  "  I  will  send  my 
boy  with  you."  So  a  lioi'se  and  carriage  are  pro- 
vided, and  Avith  his  hostler  as  driver,  we  started 
for  a  three  hours'  ride  up  the  Alps.  Up,  up,  up 
we  climb.  Down,  doAvn,  down  comes  the  rain. 
It  rains  as  it  only  can  rain  in  Switzerland.  The 
windows  of  heaven  seem  to  be  wide  oj^en.  As 
we  go  up,  it  seems  as  if  we  had  gotten  almost 
high  enough  to  be  near  the  very  springs  of  the 
skies.  It  is  cold,  very  cold.  The  '  snow  wind,' 
as  the  Swiss  call  it,  is  blowing.  The  higher  we 
ascend,  the  colder  becomes  the  rain.  I  bundle 
myself  in  my  heavy  overcoat,  wrap  my  shawl 
about  me,  and  over   all    throw    my    water-proof 


12  RAMliLElS    KOUNJL> 

overcoat.     And  still  I  am  not  warm.     And  yet  it 
is  the  Fonrtli  of  July. 

At  length  a  little  valley  near  tlie  mountain-top 
bursts  into  view.  The  rain  ceases.  The  sun 
seems  to  be  kissing  the  mountain-side  in  spots. 
Before  us  is  the  little  valley  of  the  Tockenburg, 
where  Zwingli  was  born  on  New  Year's  Day, 
1484.  It  seems  a  New  Year's, Day  to  us  rather 
than  a  Fourth  of  July.  Down  in  the  valley  is  a 
little  Swiss  hut.  Its  slanting  roof  has  stones  on 
it  to  keep  the  shingles  from  being  blown  away 
by  the  wintry  wind.  In  the  interior  the  walls 
are  wainscoted,  while  there  is  some  w^ood-carving 
on  the  joists.  Zwingli's  father  must  have  been 
in  comfortable  circumstances  to  have  lived  in  such 
a  house.  He  was  the  magistrate  of  the  valley. 
This  cottage  is  unused  now,  kept  as  a  relic  of 
Zwingli.  Here  his  father  taught  him  the  lessons 
of  youth,  and  his  mother  told  him  Bible  stories 
and  church  legends.  When  a  boy  only  eight 
yeaj^-s  old,  he  showed  his  noble  character  by  the 
saying  that  "  Truthfulness  is  the  mother  of  all 
virtues."  The  pure  air  of  this  upper  valley  pre- 
pared him  to  be  a  Reformer.  Yonder,  up  Mount 
Sentis,  rising  5000  feet  above  the  valley,  the  shep- 
herd l)oy  climbed  to  see  his  father's  Hocks.     As 


.      REFORMED    LANDS.  13 

a  friend  said  of  him,  "  I  have  often  thought  that 
on  these  Alpine  heights  so  near  heaven,  he  must 
have  imbibed  something  heavenly  and  divine." 

Musing  thus  on  the  boyhood  of  great  men,  we 
take  our  way  to  the  village  church.  A  call  on 
the  pastor  is  made.  He  receives  strangers  very 
cordially.  He  says  tliat  not  many  strangers  find 
their  way  to  this  u})})ei-  valley,  but  that  a  few 
years  ago  an  American  minister  liad  called, 
whose  name  he  did  not  remember.  Then  over  to 
the  little  church  we  go.  Here  Zwingli,  a  babe, 
was  baptized.  It  is  a  little,  plain  country  church. 
The  seats  are  uncushioned,  the  floor  is  uncarpet- 
ed.  Opposite  the  pul})it  is  an  end  gallery,  and 
over  the  gallery  are  tlie  words : 

"Halt  fest  an  Gottes  Wort, 

Es  ist  dein  Gliick  auf  Erden, 
Und  kanu,  so  wahr  Gott  ist, 

Dein  Gliick  im  Himmel  werden." 

The  pastor  tells  us  that  in  the  valley  there  are 
about  800  Protestants  and  400  Catholics.  But 
there  are  none  of  Zwingli's  relatives  living  in  the 
valley,  although  there  may  be  some  at  Buchs,  the 
railway  station  from  which  we  had  started  that 
morning. 

Filled  with  such  memories,  we  start  on  our  ride 


14  RAMBLES    ROUND 

down  the  mountain  to  Buclis.  The  sun  has  come 
out  and  it  is  now  as  delightful  a  ride  down,  as  it 
had  been  dismal  up.  In  an  hour  and  a  half  we 
are  at  the  railway  station,  well  satisfied  with  our 
Fourth  of  July  visit  to  the  birth-place  of  Zwingli, 
the  apostle  of  gospel  freedom. 

A  ride  westward  brings  the  traveller  along  the 
little  lake  of  Wallenstadt.  Here  is  grandeur  sub- 
lime. This  little  lake  is  surrounded  by  mountain 
peaks  on  every  side.  Steep  precipices  3000  feet 
high,  with  mountain  jieaks  4000  feet  higher,  sur- 
round it.  It  is  a  wild  little  gorge  with  numer- 
ous waterfalls,  falling  thousands  of  feet.  At  the 
west  end  of  the  lake  is  the  little  town  of  Wesen, 
where  Zwingli's  uncle,  the  dean  of  Wesen,  was 
pastor  of  the  village  church.  This  uncle  took  a 
fatherly  interest  in  the  boy,  and  at  the  early  age 
of  ten  sent  liim  to  Basel  for  further  education. 

And  now  again,  as  we  journey,  our  way  be- 
comes hemmed  in  l)y  mountains.  Our  railroad 
cannot  go  much  farther  or  else  it  will  run  into  a 
mountain.  We  stop  at  the  station  of  a  town  sur- 
rounded on  every  side  by  mountains  7000  feet 
higli.  It  is  the  town  of  Glarus,  with  5000  inhab- 
itants, famous  for  slate  and  sapsago  cheese.  It  is 
interesting  to  tis  because   it   was    Zwingli's   first 


REFORMED    LANDS.  15 

parish.  We  go  to  the  church  of  the  town. 
The  building  is  not  the  same  as  that  in  which 
Zwingli  preached,  for  the  old  church  was  burned 
down  in  1861,  but  it  is  a  large  new  church.  We 
enter  and  are  surprised  to  find  that  the  Protest- 
ants and  the  Catholics  worship  together  in  the 
same  building  and  in  the  same  room.  There  is 
a  Catholic  altar  with  its  candles  and  its  crosses. 
And  about  fifteen  feet  in  front  of  it  is  the  Prot- 
estant pulpit.  But  I  doubt  whether  that  stern 
Reformer,  Zwingli,  would  have  fevored  such  a 
reunion  of  the  Churches.  Alas,  the  Protestant 
consciousness  has  died  out  sadly  in  the  canton 
through  the  inroads  of  rationalism.  And  now 
the  Protestants  live  as  happily  with  the  Catholics 
as  the  lion  and  the  lamb.  But  we  fear  the  Ro- 
manists are  the  lion  still. 

The  communion  service  which  Zwingli  used 
when  pastor  there,  was  shown  to  us.  It  contained 
a  broad  silver  cup,  on  which  were  the  figures  of 
the  evangelists  set  with  emeralds.  Going  out  of 
the  church,  we  asked  our  guide  how  long  it  would 
take  to  walk  to  the  woods  at  the  foot  of  the  Glar- 
nish  Alps.  We  supposed  it  was  a  twenty  min- 
utes' walk.  He  said  it  was  a  three  hours'  walk. 
How  deceptive  are  distances  in  the  pure  moun- 


16  RAMBLES    ROUND 

tain  air  of  the  mountain  regions.  It  reminded 
me  of  the  story  of  the  man  at  Interlaken,  who 
saw  the  Jungfrau,  and  it  seemed  so  near  that  he 
thought  he  woukl  walk  out  to  it  before  breakfast. 
After  walking  for  an  hour  or  two  and  finding  he 
came  no  nearer  to  it,  he  asked  how  far  away  it 
was.  When  told  it  was  a  day's  journey,  he  con- 
cluded to  come  home  and  get  his  breakfast  first 
before  he  started  again. 

Here  in  this  little  secluded  valley  Zwingli  spent 
ten  years  of  his  early  ministry.  But  though  in 
such  a  secluded  place,  changes  were  in  the  air. 
The  men  of  the  canton  were  tempted  by  foreign 
gold  to  hire  themselves  as  sokliers,  and  they  came 
back  bringing  vices  and  extravagances  with  them. 
Twice  Zwingli  Avent  with  them  to  Italy  as  their 
chaplain.  These  visits  had  an  effect  in  prepar- 
ing him  for  the  Reformation.  In  Italy  he  saw 
the  great  wickedness  of  the  Italian  people.  AVhile 
at  Milan  he  saw  how  the  Milan  liturgy  difi:ered 
from  his  oAvn.  \Mien  he  came  back  to  Glarus, 
he  found  an  old  liturgy  at  the  town  of  Mollis, 
near  Glarus,  which  said  that  the  cup  should  be 
given  to  the  laity  at  the  Lord's  Supper.  These 
influences,  with  his  reading  of  the  Bible,  prepared 
him  to  break  ultimately    from  Borne.     But  the 


REFORMED    LANDS.  1/ 

foreign  iiifliieiiee  became  too  strong  against  him 
in  his  canton,  and  he  resigned  his  parish  at  Gla- 
rus  to  go  to  tlie  monastery  at  Einsiedehi. 

Let  us  start  for  Einsiedehi.  The  railway  skirts 
for  a  while  the  beautiful  lake  of  Zurich,  with  its, 
gently  sloping  sides  of  green,  dotted  w^ith  villages 
and  churches,  and  its  waters  speckled  with  boats 
and  steamers.  We  change  cars  at  a  little  station, 
and  now  our  train  mounts  the  mountain  side 
higher  and  higher.  The  train  seems  to  be  a  bal- 
loon as  it  rises,  for  we  get  a  full  view  of  the  whole 
lake  of  Zurich,  25  miles  long.  Yonder,  in  the 
distant  w^estern  end  of  the  lake,  is  the  city  of  Zu- 
rich. Just  Ijelow  in  the  lake  is  the  island  where 
Ulrich  Von  Hutten,  one  of  the  bravest  knights 
of  the  Reformation,  died  and  is  buried.  A  little 
beyond  this  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake  is  Rap- 
perschwyl,  where  Zwingli  preached  his  first  ser- 
mon on  entering  the  ministry.  This  railroad 
gives  a  glorious  view"  of  Zwingli-land  around  Zu- 
rich. By  and  by,  when  we  had  ascended  1500 
feet  above  the  lake,  the  train  turns  into  the  moun- 
tains, and  suddenly  w^e  are  in  a  little  valley  on 
the  mountain-top. 

In  this  valley  lies  the  monastery  of  Einsiedehi. 
Here  is  the  shrine  of  the  Black  Virgin.     We  did 


18  KAMBLES    KOUND 

not  know  that  the  mother  of  Christ  was  a  negress, 
but,  according  to  their  foolish  tradition  here,  they 
say  so.  We  refuse  to  believe  it.  At  any  rate, 
the  image  of  the  Madonna  that  is  here  is  black, 
although  Mary  herself  was  not.  This  abbey  of 
Einsiedeln  is  the  largest  abbey  in  Switzerland. 
It  has  150,000  pilgrims  coming  to  it  every  year. 
It  contains  60  priests  and  20  monks  who  •  spend 
their  time  in  reading  mass  and  in.  raising  a  fine 
breed  of  horses,  for  which  the  abbey  is  famous  ; 
but  shepherds  of  souls  they  are  not.  The  inte- 
rior of  the  church  presents  a  tawdry  appearance, 
although  there  are  some  fine  pictures.  On  the 
right  is  the  pulj^it,  but  we  could  see  no  stairway 
by  which  to  get  up  to  it.  There  is  no  preaching 
there  now,  at  least  not  such  as  Zwingli  gave. 

The  first  object  the  traveller  sees  on  entering 
the  chapel,  is  the  shrine  of  the  Black  Virgin  with 
a  grating  before  it  to  prevent  the  pilgrims  from 
coming  too  near  the  sacred  altar.  This  Virgin  is 
supposed  to  heal  diseases  of  the  body  as  well  as  of 
the  soul.  In  a  niche  stand  several  crutches  all 
covered  with  cobwebs,  which,  they  say,  were  left 
by  those  who  were  cured.  A  little  bent  woman 
once  asked  a  traveller  there  for  money.  She  told 
him  she  had  walked  eighty  times  from  Alsace  in 


REFORMED    LANDS.  19 

order  to  be  cured  of  rheumatism,  and  that  she 
found  herself  much  benefited  by  the  visit. 
Judging  from  her  crippled  condition  then,  he 
wondered  what  must  have  been  her  state  when  she 
first  came. 

I  remember  seeing  a  scene  of  pride  in  poverty 
in  the  abbey.  Among  the  number  of  those  pray- 
ing on  their  knees  before  the  shrine  of  the  Ma- 
donna was  a  poor  man  whose  coat  was  very  much 
patched.  And  yet  in  all  his  poverty  he  had  taken 
the  trouble  to  tie  up  his  coat-tails  behind  him,  so 
that  they  looked  like  wings,  in  order  that  his 
coatr  might  not  touch  the  ground  and  become 
dusty.  Pride  is  in  every  place,  even  in  church 
and  among  the  poor.  Indeed  the  poor  are  often 
prouder  than  the  rich.  It  was  said  some  years 
ago  that  in  Five  Points,  the  poorest  section  of 
New  York  City,  the  family  who  possessed  one 
chair  would  look  down  upon  and  not  notice  a 
family  who  had  no  chairs  at  all. 

In  this  abbey  Zwingli  began  to  preach  the 
evangelical  Gospel.  Here,  as  early  as  1516,  a 
a  year  before  Luther  nailed  his  theses  on  the 
church  door  at  AVittenburg,  Zwingli  preached 
Christ  as  the  ransom  for  sin.  Over  the  gate  of 
the  abbey  were  the  words  :  "  Here   may   be  ob- 


20  RAMBLES    ROUND 

tained  the  complete  remission  of  sins."  But 
Zwingli  boldly  declared  that  "Christ  alone  saves 
and  saves  everywhere."  So  powerful  were  his 
words  that  the  pilgrims  who  came  there  to  be  for- 
given of  their  sins,  went  back  home  again.  His 
preaching  became  so  eloquent  that  even  the  lazy 
monks  left  their  cells.  8ays  a  visitor,  as  he  lis- 
tened to  Zwingli  i^reaching  there:  "How  beau- 
tiful and  profound,  how  grave  and  how  convinc- 
ing, how  moving  and  agreeable  to  the  Gospel  is 
that  discourse."  The  Pope  tried  to  bribe  him  to 
keep  quiet  by  the  offer  of  a  cardinal's  hat.  But 
Zwingli  rejected  bribes  and  said,  "  By  God's  help 
I  mean  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  that  will  shake 
Rome.''  And  his  preaching  did  shake  Switzer- 
land as  with  earthquake  throes.  And  God  for 
his  faithfulness  called  him  higher,  and  he  was 
elected  to  be  the  preacher  of  the  great  church  at 
Zurich,  the  capital  of  the  canton,  while  after  his 
death  Einsiedeln  reverted  back  to  the  Catholics. 
So  the  abbey  is  as  bigoted  as  ever,  and  through 
the  town  rosaries,  wax  images,  pictures,  crucifixes 
and  small  statues  of  the  Virgin  are  sold.  Ein- 
siedeln needs  another  Zwingli  to  bring  her  to  the 
truth. 


I  \  4 


REFORMED    LANDS.  21 


CHAPTER   II. 
Zurich. 

What  a  fine  city  Zurich  is  !  Beautiful  for  situ- 
ation, like  Jerusalem,  is  Zurich.  Unlike  Jerusa- 
lem, howevei",  it  is  not  compactly  built  together, 
but  is  spread  out  like  a  fan"  around  the  southern 
end  of  the  lake  of  Zurich.  Its  population  is  about 
24,000,  but  with  its  suburbs  it  numbers  65,000. 
Zurich  is  the  manufacturing  centre  of  Switzerland. 

Like  so  many  other  cities,  it  ow^es  its  present 
prosperity  to  the  Reformation.  It  is  the  centre 
of  silk  and  cotton  factories,  there  being  about 
10,000  looms  in  the  canton  ;  for  in  the  year  1565 
there  was  a  Protestant  church  at  Chiavenna,  in 
one  of  the  Swiss  cantons  on  the  southern  side  of 
the  Al]')s,  but  the  Catholics  so  greatly  persecuted 
them  tliat  they  finally  fled  to  Zurich  and  brought 
their  silk  industry  with  them.  So  from  that 
small  beginning  the  manufacturing  trade  of  Zu- 
rich began  to  develop. 

It  is  also  the  commercial  as  well  as* the  literary 
centre  of  Switzerland.     Zurich  is  situated  at  the 


22  KAMBLES    ROUND 

mouth  of  the  lake  of  Zurich,  whose  gently  sloping 
sides  are  covered  with  villages,  orchards  and  vine- 
yards. Far  in  the  distance  across  the  lake  lie  the 
snow-capped  Alps.  To  the  west  of  the  city  is  the 
steep  peak  of  Utliberg,  rising  1600  feet  above 
the  town,  while  northwest  of  the  city  is  a  gently 
undulating  farming  country.  We  walk  through 
the  railroad  street  with  its  handsome  residences 
and  fine  stores.  We  cross  the  river  Limmat, 
which  divides  the  city  into  two  parts,  and  whose 
clear  but  swift  flowing  tide  carries  ofl"  the  waters 
of  the  lake.  And  we  stand  before  the  building- 
sacred  in  our  Church  history,  the  minster  or  cath- 
edral where  Zwingli  preached.  It  is  of  Roman- 
esque style  of  architecture,  and  its  front  contains 
two  towers,  one  at  each  corner.  The  statue  of 
Charlemagne,  who  used  to  live  frequently  at  Zu- 
rich and  who  gave  large  gifts  to  the  church,  is 
seated  in  the  west  tower.  But  a  greater  than 
Charlemagne  came  to  this  church  in  1519,  Ulric 
Zwingli.  Born  on  the  New  Year,  he  came  to 
Zurich  on  the  New  Year's  Day  to  usher  in  a  new 
year  for  its  citizens,  as  he  preached  the  acceptable 
year  of  the  Lord.  Called  away  from  his  quiet 
home  at  Einsiedeln,  where,  like  Moses  in  the  des- 
ert and  Paul  in  Arabia,  he  had  been  silently  pre- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  23 

pared  foi-  his  life  work,  he  came  here  to  stand 
forth  as  one  of  the  leading  reformers  of  the  Church. 
The  church  was  filled  to  hear  this  celebrated 
preacher  preach  his  first  sermon.  Zwingli  de- 
clared, "  It  is  to  Christ  I  wish  to  guide  you,  to 
Christ  the  true  spring  of  salvation."  A  new  doc- 
trine this  in  those  days  when  they  went  to  Mary 
rather  than  to  Christ  for  salvation.  Great  was 
the  delight  of  many  in  his  audience  at  these  words, 
but  great  was  the  hatred  of  others.  He  not  mere- 
ly preached  on  Sabbath,  but  also  on  market  days 
to  the  people  of  the  canton  who  came  to  Zurich 
to  attend  market.  Thus  his  doctrines  were  spread 
throughout  the  whole  canton.  So  eloquent  was 
his  preaching  and  so  great  his  influence  that  in  a 
short  time  the  city  council  sympathized  with  him 
in  his  reforms  in  the  Church.  In  lo23  they  passed 
an  ordinance  requiring  that  the  church  service 
should  be  conducted  according  to  the  Scripture. 
They  went  from  one  reform  to  another  until  the 
reformation  was  finally  completed  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Protestant  method  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Instead  of  the  Komish  altar  was  sub- 
stituted the  Lord's  table  covered  with  a  simple 
cloth.  A  basket  containing,  not  w^afers,  but  bread 
which  could  be  broken,  was  placed  on  this  table, 


24  EAMBLES    ROUND 

together  with  wooden  goblets  in  which  wine  was 
handed  about.  The  people  sat  during  the  com- 
munion, while  the  students  who  assisted  Zwingli 
passed  the  elements  among  the  communicants. 
How  simple,  but  how  refreshing  this  service  in 
contrast  with  the  pomp  and  mummery  of  the  mass ! 
These  changes  reveal  the  thoroughness  of  Zwing- 
li's  reformation,  which  aimed  to  bring  the  service 
back  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Bible. 

The  side  buildings  of  the  minster,  which  used 
to  belong  to  the  monks,  have  been  turned  into  a 
girls'  school.  Almost  opposite  the  church  is  the 
house  in  which  Zwingli  lived.  It  was  shown  to 
us  by  Rev.  Mr.  Pestalozzi,  one  of  the  pastors  of 
the  church.  But  let  us  go  to  church  on  Sunday 
mornino-  to  the  cathedral.  It  is  a  laroe  church 
witli  oalleries  around  it.  Tlie  interior  is  verv 
plain.  There  are  no  carpets  on  the  Hoor,  nor 
cusliions  in  the  seats.  The  only  decoration  is  a 
large  stained  glass  window  in  the  choir,  Avhich 
contains  pictures  of  Christ,  Peter  and  Paul.  The 
aged  antistes  or  head  minister  (for  there  are  two 
ministers)  enters  the  church.  As  he  goes  into 
the  chancel  he  holds  his  hat  before  his  face  as  he 
prays.  I  remember  a  i)ious  Swiss  in  our  old 
Keforined  eluirch  at  Reading,  who  always  2)rayed 


REFORMED    LANDS.  25 

in  his  hat  as  he  entered  church.  It  is  a  Swiss 
custom.  The  antistes  gives  out  a  hymn  and  then 
ascends  the  pulpit,  where  he  reads  the  Scriptures, 
prays  and  preaches.  The  people  all  stand  up  as 
he  reads  the  Bible,  and  when  he  begins  to  preach 
the  people  all  rise  again.  I  arise  with  them.  I 
thought  to  myself,  "  Do  these  people  stand  dur- 
ing the  sermon  ?"  I  involuntarily  hoped  the  ser- 
mon would  be  short.  But  what  is  this  noise  ?  It 
seems  out  of  place  that  there  should  be  such  a 
noise  disturbing  the  quiet  of  the  service.  I  look 
around  and  see  the  people  are  sitting  down.  But 
still  I  cannot  understand  what  made  the  noise. 
Finally  I  discover  that  it  is  caused  by  the  men 
sitting  down.  The  men  sat  along  the  wall  on 
board  seats  that  folded  up  like  our  camp  chairs. 
When  they  wanted  to  sit  down  they  pushed  down 
these  folding  seats,  and  that  made  the  noise  I  had 
heard.  But  this  strange  custom  reveals  a  signifi- 
cant fact  in  the  history  of  the  Keformed  Church, 
namely,  the  reverence  of  the  people  for  the  Bible. 
Whenever  the  Bible  is  read,  if  it  be  only  a  text, 
the  people  stood  up  to  do  it  reverence.  But 
when  the  minister  began  the  sermon  with  his  own 
words,  the  people  sat  down.  They  thus  signified 
that  God's  words  in  the  Bible  were  different  from 
3 


,26  .    KAMBLES    ROUND 

man's  words  in  the  sermon.  The  Reformed  have 
always  greatly  honored  the  Bible  in  tlieir  creeds 
and  customs.  The  antistes  preached  a  phiin  ser- 
mon on  the  clause  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "  Thy 
kingdom  come."  It  was  a  sermon  of  intellectual 
power,  but  it  lacked  the  earnest  pointedness  and 
grip  of  our  American  style.  After  the  service  I 
called  on  him  at  his  house  directly  ojiposite  the 
cathedral.  He  told  me  that  the  people  still  cel- 
ebrate the  communion  as  they  did  in  Zwingli's 
time,  by  sitting  at  the  table. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Limmat  river  is  an- 
other church,  the  Church  oi'  our  l^ady,  where  a- 
most  earnest,  pious  preacher  j)reaches.  The  town 
and  canton  are,  alas,  largely  impregnated  with 
rationalism,  but  this  church  is  very  evangelical. 
A  little  further  down  the  Limmat  is  the  St.  Peter's 
Church,  where  Lavater,  one  of  the  poets  of  the  i 
Keformed  Church,  preached  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  last  century.  Goethe  says  of  him  :  "  He  is 
the  best,  greatest,  wisest  and  sincerest  man  I  ever 
knew."  He  was  cruelly  shot  by  a  French  soldier 
while  on  an  errand  of  mercy. 

But  from  the  cathedral  we  go  to  the  library, 
situated  right  on  the  banks  of  the  rivei-.  Tlie 
building  was  originally  called  the  Water-churcli, 


REFOKMED    LANDS.  27 

because  it  stood  in  the  water.  It  contains  a  very 
valuable  library.  In  it  are  three  letters  of  Lady 
Jane  Grey  to  Bullinger,  the  successor  of  Zwingli ; 
also  a  letter  of  Zwingli.  But  the  most  interest- 
ing book  to  me  is  Zwingli's  Bible.  The  Tes- 
tament is  in  Greek  and  his  notes  are  written  in 
his  own  hand-writing.  Zwingli  learned  whole 
books  of  the  New  Testament  by  heart,  which  ex- 
plains his  readiness  to  meet  his  antagonists  from 
the  Bible.  His  hand-writing  is  very  interesting, 
for  it  chanoes  fdjout  the  time  he  came  to  Zurich. 
But  another  very  interesting  volume  is  the  Bible 
that  Zwingli  wrote,  or  rather  that  he  arranged  to 
write  Avith  Leo  Juda.  It  is  to  the  honor  of  the 
Reformed  Church  that  her  translation  of  the  Ger- 
man Bible  wa,s  the  earliest  of  the  Reformation. 
This  Swiss  translation  was  begun  in  1524  and 
finished  in  1529,  while  Luther's  Bible  was  not  fin- 
ished until  1584.  Indeed  more  than  six  editions 
of  the  Swiss  Bible  appeared  before  Luther's  was 
completed.  Leo  Juda  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  his  age.  Indeed,  Zwingli  and  Leo  Juda 
were  better  Greek  scholars  than  Luther,  whose 
early  studies  did  not  include  Greek,  and  who  had 
to  rely  on  Melanchthon,  who,  however,  was  one 
of  the  finest  scholars  of  his   age.     The    illustra- 


28  RAMBLEH    ROUND 

tions  of  tliis  Bible  are  very  quaint.  The  most  of 
them  were  designed  by  Holbein,  the  celebrated 
painter  of  the  Reformed  Church  who  lived  at 
Basle. 

But  let  us  go  up  to  the  University,  situated  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Limmat,  on  a  high  point 
of  land  which  commands  a  fine  view  ovei-  the 
city  and  the  lake  and  the  Alps.  It  was  founded 
in  18312  and  has  included  in  it  a  complete  theo- 
logical seminary  with  six  professors  and  ninety- 
three  students.  The  most  famous  of  these  pro- 
fessors in  our  day  was  Prof  Alexander  Schweitz- 
er. He  was  an  intense  follower  of  Schleiermacher, 
and  a  valuable  historian  of  the  Reformed  Church. 
Having  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him,  I  started 
out  to  make  a  call  on  him.  I  heard  he  was  liv- 
ing in  the  western  part  of  the  city,  and  boarded 
a  street  car.  With  my  American  abruptness  I 
asked  the  street  car  conductor  whether  this  car 
went  to  the  suburb  of  Aussersihl.  Now  it  is  cus- 
tomary among  the  Germans  for  a  stranger  to  first 
apologize  for  speaking,  by  an  expression  like 
"  Excuse  me."  I  had,  however,  forgotten  this 
introductory  phrase  in  my  hurry,  and  asked  him 
abruptly  whether  his  car  went  to  Aussersihl. 
E'or  a  moment  he  was  dumbfounded  by  the  ab- 


REFORMED    LAND8.  29 

ruptnesH  of  my  qiK\stioii,  and  was  quite  distant 
and  cool  toward  me.  The  Swiss  say  they  always 
know  an  American.  We  are  always  in  a  hurry, 
they  say.  The  Americans  are  practical.  We 
don't  waste  words.  We  go  to  the  root  of  the 
matter  at  once.  Travelling  some  years  before 
through  Lucerne,  one  of  my  companions,  a  young 
Philadelphian,  went  into  a  store  to  buy  some- 
tliing.  I  suppose  he  worried  the  store  lady,  for 
she  became  impatient  with  him,  as  he  had  been 
with  her.  Finally  she  said  to  him,  "  If  all  Amer- 
icans are  like  you,  I  don't  want  anything  more  to 
do  with  them.  They  are  always  in  a  hurry." 
My  street  car  conductor,  however,  afterward  be- 
came quite  chatty,  and  as  we  rode  together  on  the 
platform,  he  pointed  out  to  me  the  street  that  I 
sought.  I  tried  to  find  Professor  Schweitzer's 
house,  but  alas,  to  my  disaj^pointmenthehadjust 
moved  farther  into  the  country,  and  as  night  and 
a  thunder  storm  were  coming,  I  deemed  it  best  to 
hasten  back  to  the  hotel.  Thunder  storms  !  We 
know  nothing  about  tliem  in  America.  Every 
afternoon  we  had  an  exhilntion  of  these  magnif- 
icent fireworks  of  nature.  The  thunder,  as  it  re- 
verberated again  and  again  through  the  hills, 
dying  away  in  distant  echoes,  was  terrific.     The 


30  EAMBLE8    KOUND 

battle  of  the  heavens  far  exceeded  any  of  the  bat- 
tles of  men  ;  while  tlie  lightning,  as  it  flashed 
through  the  sky  and  up  and  down  the  hills,  was 
blinding  in  its  brilliancy.  The  grandeur  of  na- 
ture as  seen  in  a  Swiss  tempest  is  awe-inspiring. 

West  of  Zurich  is  a  fine  mountain  j^eak  called 
the  Utliberg.  An  inclined  railway  runs  to  its 
top,  where  there  is  perched  a  fine  hotel.  We 
climbed  up  to  it  and  found  Zurich  and  the  lake 
lying  at  our  feet,  with  the  white  Alps  in  the  far 
distance.  From  this  mountain  top  the  road  which 
the  army  of  Zurich  took  through  Horgen  to  the 
battle-field  of  Cajjpel,  can  be  distinctly  seen.  We 
also  visit  the  arsenal,  where  are  the  arms  of 
Zwingli.  His  battle-ax,  taken  at  the  battle  of 
Cap23el,  his  sword,  his  coat  of  mail  and  helmet 
are  here.  We  also  saw  his  colors,  which  consist 
of  a  red  band  on  top,  and  below  a  white  and  blue 
shield  on  silver. 

But  let  us  go  to  Cappel,  where  Zwingli  died. 
Rev.  Dr.  Bomberger  and  myself  take  the  train 
for  Zug  near  Lucerne.  There  we  hire  a  carriage. 
It  is  very  hot,  excessively  hot.  The  farmers  are 
in  the  fields,  gathering  in  their  hay.  But  what 
are  these  flies  hovering  over  us  in  clouds.  They 
look  like  Jersey  mosquitoes,    only    larger.     We 


REFORMED    LANDS.  ol 

soon  find  that  tliey  are  not  unlike  mosquitoes  ; 
for  without  a  moment's  warning  one  lights  on  my 
hand,  and  what  seems  like  a  needle  is  run  into 
the  flesh.  They  are  the  hay-fly  of  the  Swiss. 
As  we  do  not  care  to  become  a  pincushion  for 
these  flies,  we  tie  knots  to  the  ends  of  our  hand- 
kerchiefs, and  flinging  them  about  like  fans,  we 
keep  the  insects  away.  We  ride  past  the  quaint 
old  church  of  Cappel,  and  finally  come  to  a  quiet 
nook  along  the  roadside,  where  rises  a  rude  stone 
about  fifteen  feet  high.  In  the  centre  of  it  is  a 
metallic  slab  bearing  an  inscription  stating  that 
Ulric  Zwingli  for  truth  and  the  Christian  faith 
died  the  hero's  death,  October  11,  1531.  His 
dying  words  are  inscribed  on  it :  "  They  may  kill 
the  body,  but  they  cannot  kill  the  soul."  At  one 
side  of  the  monument  is  a  pear  tree.  Zwingli 
died  under  a  pear  tree.  So  every  time  the  pear 
tree  that  marks  the  place  of  his  death  dies,  an- 
other tree  is  planted.'^'  Let  us,  as  we  stand  here, 
go  back  to  that  death  of  the  founder  of  our  Re- 
formed Church.  Zwingli  had  come  out  to  Cap- 
pel  with  the  arni}^  as  a  chaplain.  He  was  min- 
istering to  a  wounded  soldier,  when  he  was  struck 

*  We  photographed  the  monument,  and  copies  of  it  have  been 
printed  for  anj'  wlio  desire  them. 


32  RAMBLES    ROUND 

by  a  stone  from  the  enemy.  As  he  fell  he  sup- 
ported himself  on  his  knees  for  an  instant,  and 
exclaimed,  "  They  may  kill  the  body,  but  they 
cannot  kill  the  soul,"  and  then  sank  back  and 
lay  with  folded  hands  and  uplifted  gaze  toward 
heaven.  His  lips  moved  in  prayer.  Some  one 
asked  him  if  he  wanted  to  see  a  priest  and  con- 
fess to  him.  Another  told  him  to  call  on  the 
saints.  He  only  shook  his  head.  "  Die,  then," 
said  a  captain  as  he  gave  him  his  death  stroke. 
After  his  death  his  bitter  enemies  held  a  trial 
over  his  body,  which  was  condemned  as  that  of  a 
heretic.  It  was  then  quartered  by  the  execu- 
tioner of  Lucerne.  It  was  burned  and  the  ashes 
mingled  with  those  of  swine. 

Just  as  Wickliff 's  ashes,  carried  by  the  Severn 
to  the  sea,  and  thus  to  all  lands,  were  a  type  of 
his  evangelical  doctrines,  which  were  spread 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth  by  the  English  nation  ; 
so  Zwingli's  ashes,  cast  on  the  Reuss,  were  car- 
ried to  the  Aare  tind  then  down  the  Rhine,  so 
his  doctrines  spread  from  Switzerland  down  the 
Rhine  into  Germany  and  Holland.  They  could 
kill  the  body,  but  his  soul  goes  marching  on.  Thus 
died  like  a  hero  and  martyr,  Zwingli,  the  patriot, 
the  theologian,  the  preacher,  the   musician,  the 


REFORMED    LANDS.  OO 

Christian.  His  life  and  his  death  are  a  lasting- 
legacy  to  the  Reformed  people.  While  in  Zurich, 
I  remember  seeing  a  Swiss  sunset  while  sitting 
along  the  lake  and  looking  eastward  toward  the 
distant  Alps.  I  saw  the  sun  set  on  them  ;  but  af- 
ter the  sunlight  no  longer  touched  them,  gradu- 
ally they  became  tinged  with  pink.  This  pink- 
ish tint  increased  into  a  red — into  a  dark  red,  un- 
til the  mountains  glowed  like  red  torches,  while 
the  lake  below  was  tinted  with  a  delicate  blue. 
The  sun  had  set,  but  this  was  the  Alpine-glow 
after  the  sunset.  Such  an  Alj)ine-glow  crim- 
soned Zwingli's  death.  And  the  glory  of  his 
death  lit  up  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Switzerland 
with  a  light  that  is  shining  yet. 


84  E AMBLES    ROUND 


CHAPTER   III. 

Berne. 

The  Kigi  mountain  is  not  far  from  Cappel.  It 
consists  of  a  group  of  mountains,  rising  6000  feet 
high,  and  so  isolated  from  the  other  mountain- 
peaks  as  to  command  a  magnificent  vieAV  in  all 
directions.  We  take  the  steep  railway  up  its 
side  just  about  sunset.  The  little  engine  begins 
to  climb  up  its  cog-wheel  track.  The  engines  are 
constructed  in  a  slanting  shape,  so  that  when  they 
are  on  the  level  ground  they  lean ;  but  as  they  go 
up  the  mountain,  they  resume  an  upright  position. 
In  tin  open  car  we  start  to  ascend.  As  we  ascend, 
the  sun  sets  behind  the  mountain.  We  enter  a 
tunnel ;  and  lo,  as  we  emerge,  the  sun,  which  we 
thought  had  set,  bursts  upon  us  again,  lighting 
up  a  splendid  view  at  our  feet.  Instantly  every 
passenger  is  lifted  off  his  feet  by  the  magnificence 
of  the  sight,  and  each  one  in  his  own  language  is 
giving  vent  to  his  admiration  by  an  exclamation 
of  wonder  and  enjoyment.  One  cried  out  in  Ger- 
man, "  schoen,"  another  in  French  gives   utter- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  6b 

ance  to  a  word  I  cannot  understand.  An  Eng- 
lishman cries  out,  "  magnificent."  All  I  can  say 
is  "  Oh  !"  But  the  party  are  unanimous  that  it  is 
the  finest  view  they  have  ever  seen.  After  a  ride 
through  the  deepening  twilight,  we  finally  arrive 
at  the  top  of  the  Rigi,  at  a  large  hotel  where  we 
spend  the  night. 

What  sound  is  this,  a  most  doleful  groan,  as  if 
some  giant  were  in  his  death  throes  ?  .  It  is  the 
sound  of  the  Alpine  horn,  waking  us  at  4  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  that  we  may  see  the  sun  rise  on 
the  Kigi.  We  find  that  almost  every  one  has 
come  out  on  the  open  plateau  on  the  mountain 
top  to  salute  the  coming  king  of  day.  It  is  light 
already.  The  faint  streaks  of  the  early  morning- 
are  already  appearing.  But  below  us  the  valleys 
and  towns  are  still  enshrouded  in  darkness.  In 
the  distance  are  the  ranges  of  the  Alps,  filling 
more  than  half  the  horizon.  Suddenly  one  of  the 
distai>t  snow-capped  mountains  is  tipped  with 
gold.  The  morning  sun  has  touched  it,  although 
we  are  still  in  comparative  darkness.  Suddenly 
another  peak  is  tipped  with  light,  and  then  an- 
other, and  another.  But  as  these  lighted  peaks 
are  not  all  together,  the  sun  seems  to  play  a  game 
of  hop-skip-and-jump  among  the  mountain  peaks, 


36  RAMBLES    ROUND 

striking  now  this  peak  and  now  that.  They  shine 
out  like  brilliant  torches  of  the  morning,  those 
snow-capped  peaks,  lit  u}:*  with  the  glory  of  the 
rising  sun. 

Finally  the  sun  strikes  us.  But,  although  on 
us  in  this  upper  world  the  day  has  dawned,  the 
valleys  and  lakes  far  below  us  are  still  in  the  twi- 
light of  the  morning.  Most  interesting  is  it  to 
watch  the  line  of  sunlight  creeping  down  the 
mountain,  lighting  up  the  valleys  and  villages. 
It  reveals  the  onward  march  of  the  king  of  day. 
Finally  the  lake  below  is  touched  wdth  daylight, 
and  another  day  has  dawned  on  all.  But  so  high 
are  w^e,  that  towns  below  seem  to  be  toy  vil- 
lages, and  lakes  seem  to  be  travelled  by  toy 
steamers.  It  is  like  living  up  in  the  clouds  to  be 
on  the  Bigi.  It  is  like  an  ascension  in  a  balloon. 
The  view  from  the  Bigi  is  an  event  of  a  life- 
time. When  the  sunrise  is  finished,  we  take  the 
train  down  the  mountain.  Before  this  railroad 
was  built,  it  was  a  difficult  thing  to  climb  up  this 
steep  mountain,  and  a  dangerous  one  to  climb 
down. 

Miss  Sarah  Smiley  thus  gives  a  beautiful  de- 
scription of  her  descent  and  its  spiritual  lessons  : 
"  In  the  Summer  of  1879,"  she  says,  "  I  descended 


REFORMED    LANDS.  ^37 

the  Rigi  with  one  of  the  most  faithful  of  the  Swiss 
guides.  Beyond  the  services  of  the  day,  he  taught 
me  unconsciously  a  lesson  of  life  ;  for  his  first  care 
was  to  put  my  wraps  and  other  burdens  on  his 
shoulders.  In  so  doing  he  called  for  all,  but  I 
chose  to  keep  back  a  few  for  special  care.  I  soon 
found  them  no  little  hindrance  to  the  freedom  of 
my  movement.  But  still  I  would  not  give  them 
up  to  my  guide,  until  he,  returning  to  where  I 
was  resting  a  moment,  kindly  but  firmly  de- 
manded that  I  should  give  him  everything  but 
my  Alpine-stock.  Putting  them  with  the  utmost 
care  upon  his  shoulders,  with  a  look  of  intense 
satisfaction  he  led  the  way.  And  now  with  my 
freedom  I  found  I  could  make  double  speed  with 
double  safety.  Then  a  voice  spake  inwardly,  '  O, 
foolish,  wilful  heart,  hast  thou  indeed  given  up 
thy  last  burden  ?  Thou  hast  no  need  to  carry 
them.'  I  saw  it  all  in  a  flash.  And  then  as  I 
leaped  lightly  from  rock  to  rock,  down  the  steep 
mountain  side,  I  said  within  myself,  *  And  ever 
thus  will  I  follow  Jesus,  my  guide,  my  burden- 
bearer.  I  will  rest  all  my  care  on  Him,  for  He 
careth  for  me.' " 

Lake  Lucerne,  which  nestles  at  the  foot  of  the 
Rigi,  is  at  once  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most 


38  RAMBLES    ROUND 

grand  of  the  Swiss  lakes.  Its  scenery  is  a  com- 
bination of  beauty  and  grandeur.  We  take  a 
steamer  ride  around  it.  At  its  south-eastern  end 
is  the  land  of  William  Tell,  the  patriot  of  Switz- 
erland. At  Altorf,  thirty  miles  away,  is  the  place 
where  Tell  shot  an  apple  off  his  son's  head,  at  the 
command  of  the  tyrant  Gessler.  Along  the  lake 
is  shown  Tell's  chapel,  where  Tell  s^^rang  from 
Gessler's  boat  and  escaped.  But  we  are  studying 
the  life  of  a  greater  than  William  Tell,  the  life 
of  a  greater  religious  patriot,  of  the  sj^iritual  lib- 
erator of  Switzerland,  Ulric  Zwingli.  So  we  will 
leave  the  beautiful  scenery  of  Lake  Lucerne  and 
the  Kigi,  and  pass  on  to  the  quaint  old  town  of 
Berne. 

Berne  is  the  capital  of  the  republic  of  Switzer- 
land, and  is  one  of  its  most  important  towns,  hav- 
ing a  population  of  40,000,  almost  all  of  them 
members  of  the  Reformed  Church.  The  city  is 
surrounded  on  three  sides  by  the  river  Aare, 
which  floAvs  through  a  gorge  a  hundred  feet  below 
it.  Berne  is  famous  for  its  bears.  The  bear  is 
its  tutelary  deity.  You  see  bears  everywhere. 
In  an  open  square  is  a  grotesque  figure  of  a  bear 
about  to  devour  a  child ;  while  other  children, 
doomed  to  the  same  fate,  protrude  from  its  pockets 


REFORMED    LANDS.  89 


and  girdle.  We  did  not  know  before  that  bears 
had  pockets.  A  neighboring  fountain  or  spring 
consists  of  a  statue  of  a  bear,  liaving  on  him  a 
shield,  sword,  banner  and  helmet. 

But  the  most  interesting  bear  scene  is  the  bear 
clock,  where  a  whole  group  of  wooden  bears  go 
through  a  performance  two  minutes  before  the 
clock  strikes  the  hour.  First  a  wooden  rooster 
gives  the  signal  by  clapping  his  wings  and  crow- 
ing. We  liave  heard  many  roosters,  but  never 
one  like  this.  Its  voice  had  become  so  hoarse 
and  weazened  that  it  sounds  as  if  it  had  a  lumdred 
colds  all  crowded  into  one.  It  sounds  as  if  it  were 
dying  of  pneumonia,  and  yet  could  not  die.  Had 
we  lived  near  this  rooster,  we  would  have  been 
tempted  to  do  to  him  as  a  friend  of  ours  once  did 
to  a  rooster  which  disturbed  his  morning  nap.  He 
tied  the  rooster  so  that  he  could  not  stretch  his 
neck ;  and  as  a  rooster  must  stretch  his  neck  in 
order  to  crow,  he  was  compelled  to  forego  the 
pleasure  of  that  performance.  When  this  wooden 
rooster  had  crowed,  the  wooden  bears,  some  of 
them  standing,  some  of  them  on  all  fours,  march 
around  a  seated  figure,  and  a  harlequin  strikes  the 
hour.  The  rooster  again  crows,  an  old  man  turns, 
the  hour-glass,  Avhile  a  bear  at  his  side  most  ridic- 


40  RAMBLES    ROUND 

ulously  jerks  his  head,  now  this  way  and  now  that. 
The  whole  performance  is  ended  by  the  cock 
crowing  a  third  time. 

Passing  through  the  arcades  or  covered  side- 
walks that  line  the  streets,  and  which  are  a  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  Berne,  we  go  out  the  east- 
ern gate  to  the  Bear  Den,  a  place  very  much  like 
the  bear-pit  at  the  Zoological  garden  in  Phila- 
delphia. Here  a  few  live  bears  are  kept  at  the 
expense  of  the  government.  Indeed  so  great  is 
the  veneration  of  the  Bernese  for  bears  that  the 
taking  away  of  these  live  bears  by  a  hostile  power 
almost  resulted  in  a  war.  Berne  without  its  bears 
would  not  be  Berne  any  more. 

But  let  us  go  to  the  Council  Hall.  Here  the 
Congress  of  the  Republic  of  Switzerland  meets. 
Switzerland  is  the  United  States  of  Europe.  It 
is  composed  of  twenty-two  states  or  cantons,  but 
in  its  Congress  three  languages  are  spoken,  Ger- 
man, French  and  Italian,  as  there  are  represen- 
tatives from  cantons  which  speak  these  three  lan- 
guages. The  Council,  like  our  Congress,  consists 
of  two  houses,  the  upper  house  having  forty-four 
members,  or  two  to  each  canton  ;  the  lower  house 
having  135  members,  according  to  the  population. 
Switzerland  is  a  miniature  of  the  United  States ; 


REFORMED    Lx\NDS.  41 

or  rather  the  United  States  is  an  infinite  enlarge- 
ment of  Switzerland ;  and  her  Council  chamber 
at  Berne  is  a  miniature  of  our  Capitol  at  Wash- 
ington. From  the  roof  of  this  building  a  fine 
view  is  obtained  of  the  Bernese  Alps.  Next  to 
the  bears  of  Berne,  the  Alps  that  surround  it  are 
its  most  attractive  feature.  For  many  miles 
snow-capped  peaks  stretch  along  the  horizon, 
until  one  almost  seems  to  be  in  the  Arctic  region. 
And  when  the  sun  shines  on  these  Alps,  the  view 
is  brilliant  in  its  shining  splendor. 

And  now  we  come  to  the  old  cathedral,  a  fine 
Gothic  structure.  This  old  church  is  interesting 
to  us  in  our  Church  history.  Berne  is  connected 
with  Zwingli's  life.  To  this  town  Zwingli  came 
at  the  early  age  of  thirteen  to  study  the  classics. 
He  was  a  fine  musician,  and  soon  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  Dominican  monks,  who  labored 
hard  to  get  him  to  join  their  order.  Had  he  done 
so,  he  would,  doubtless,  like  Luther,  have  been 
compelled  to  repent  of  such  a  step.  But  his  father, 
hearing  of  the  attempt,  called  him  home  and  sent 
him  to  Vienna. 

Thirty  years  after  Zwingli  again  appears  at 
Berne,  no  longer  a  scholar,  but  a  leader.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  Beformation  had  broken  out,  and 
4 


42  KAMBLES    ROUND 

he  had  become  famous  as  its  leader.  The  Kefor- 
mation  liad  reached  Berne.  In  order  to  fully  in- 
troduce it  into  Berne,  a  conference  of  theolo- 
gians and  priests  and  ministers  was  assembled 
there  in  1528.  A  hundred  of  them  came  to- 
gether. Of  these  Zwingli  was  the  leader.  He 
preached  every  day  in  this  cathedral  on  the  twelve 
articles  of  faith  in  the  creed.  His  sermons  made 
a  marked  impression. 

As  an  illustration  of  his  eloquence  and  power, 
the  following  story  is  told  about  his  ])reaching 
here.  On  Sunday  morning  Zwingli  jireached  on 
that  part  of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  "  He  ascended  to 
heaven  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the 
Father  Almighty  ;  from  thence  he  shall  come  to 
judge  the  quick  and  the  dead."  "  These  three 
articles,"  said  he,  "  contradict  the  Bomish  mass." 
The  ])eople  listened  with  greater  attention  as  he 
went  on  to  prove  this.  Now  it  happened  that  a 
priest,  robed  in  his  vestments,  was  jireparing  to 
celebrate  mass  in  one  of  the  side  chapels.  As 
Zwingli  began  preaching,  he  stopped  in  astonish- 
ment at  his  words.  As  he  listened  to  Zwingli's 
electric  words,  he  underwent  a  great  struggle. 
Finally,  overcome  by  the  truth  of  the  Bible  as 
given  by  Zwingli ;   there  before  the  sacred  altar. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  4o 

and  in  the  presence  of  the  j^eople,  he  resolved  to 
give  up  his  priesthood,  for  Zwingli's  eloquence 
had  made  him  lose  faith  in  it.  And  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  whole  congregation,  he  stripped  off 
his  priestly  robes,  and  throwing  them  on  the 
altar,  he  exclaimed,  "  Unless  the  mass  reposes  on 
a  more  solid  foundation,  I  can  celebrate  it  no 
longer."  His  conversion  made  a  profound  im- 
pression in  the  Church,  and  created  a  great  stir 
throughout  the  town.  As  a  result  of  this  confer- 
ence, Protestantism  was  fully  introduced  into 
Berne,  which  has  ever  since  been  Reformed  in 
its  religion. 

Just  south  of  Berne  is  the  city  of  Freiburg, 
famous  for  its  suspension  bridge  and  organ.  I 
start  for  it  one  evening,  giving  myself  just  time 
enough  to  hear  the  concert  in  its  cathedral,  and 
take  the  train  in  return.  As  my  time  is  so  lim- 
ited, I  ask  a  gentleman  who  sits  opposite  in  the 
train,  and  who  lives  in  Freiburg,  how  I  can  get 
to  the  cathedral  most  quickly.  He  is  very  kind 
and  gives  me  all  the  information.  But  he  is 
kinder  than  that.  When  I  step  out  of  the  station 
at  Freiburg  to  start  for  the  cathedral,  he  asks  me 
to  step  into  his  carriage,  and  he  drives  me  down 
to  the  cathedral,  giving  me  all  needed  lielp.     It 


44  RAMBLES    ROUND 

is  an  act  of  kindness    to   me,  a  stranger,    that  I 
shall  never  forget. 

The  Swiss  are  a  generous-hearted  people,  espe- 
cially toward  Americans,  probably  because  they 
feel  that  we  are  citizens  of  a  republic  like  theirs. 
For  the  silken  thread  of  liberty  binds  men's 
hearts  together  all  over  the  globe.  After  awhile 
the  concert  begins.  The  peculiar  attraction  of 
this  organ  is  its  Vox  Humana  stop,  which  imi- 
tates the  human  voice.  Almost  every  church 
organ  has  a  Vox  Humana  stop  ;  but  most  of 
them  are  most  miserable  imitations  of  the  human 
voice.  But  the  stop  in  this  organ  is  so  like  the 
voice,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  not  to  believe 
that  some  one  is  singing.  It  sounds  as  if  some 
one  were  hummiug  a  tune  without  pronouncing 
the  words.  As  I  listened  to  the  music,  several 
times  my  eyes  closed  out  of  sheer  delight,  and  I 
lost  myself  in  its  harmonies  until  the  music 
would  stop.  And  then,  having  forgotten  in  the 
music  where  I  was,  I  opened  my  eyes  and  was 
surprised  and  bewildered  for  a  moment  to  recol- 
lect where  I  was.  The  music  had  wafted  me 
away  to  another  sphere.  It  made  me  forget  the 
world,  and  I  seemed  to  have  entered  Paradise, 


REFOKMED    LANDS.  45 

and  heard  the  song  of  the  angels.  Such  a  heav- 
enly strain  was  being  heard  in  Switzerland  in 
Zwingli's  time.  The  angels  were  singing,  not 
over  Bethlehem's  plain,  but  over  the  mountains 
of  Switzerland,  the  song  of  the  gospel  of  the 
Reformation. 


4G  RAMBLES    ROUND 


CHAPTER   IV. 
Geneva. 

"  Lake  Leman  woos  me  with  its  crystal  face, 

The  mirror  where  the  stars  and  mountains  view, 

The  stillness  of  their  aspect  in  each  trace, 

Its  clear  depth  yields  of  their  far  height  and  hue." 

How  calm  and  beautiful  is  this  Lake  of  Gene- 
va. Its  northern  end  nestled  amid  the  moun- 
tains ;  its  southern  end  reaching  out  through  the 
plain  on  which  the  city  of  Geneva  stands.  Gen- 
eva is  the  richest  and  largest  city  of  Switzerland, 
having  a  population  of  50,000.  It  is  a  fast 
French  city.  It  lies  where  the  still  waters  of  the 
lake,  with  the  swiftness  of  an  arrow,  j^ass  into 
the  river  Rhone.  It  lies  just  above  the  junction 
of  the  Rhone  with  the  Arve,  where  the  pure 
crystal  waters  of  tlie  former  meet  and  mingle 
with  the  muddy,  turbid  waters  of  the  latter.  It 
is  a  famous  town  in  history,  and  is  famous  at 
present  for  its  watchmaking  and  its  music  boxes. 

The  Geneva  watches  are  famous  the  world 
over.     They  are  made  by  hand,  and  not  by  ma- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  47 

chinery,  as  in  our  land  ;  and  their  manufacture 
is  the  chief  industry  of  many  a  Swiss  family. 
They  are  very  carefully  made.  Indeed,  I  heard  it 
said  that  they  are  baked  before  they  are  sold,  so 
that  they  might  be  tested  to  see  whether  heat  or 
cold  would  alFect  their  time-keeping. 

We  are  continually  reminded  of  music  boxes. 
The  Swiss  are  very  fond  of  music.  They  will 
play  their  Alpine  horns  in  the  mountains,  and  on 
the  music  box  in  their  homes.  A  friend  of  mine 
wanted  to  buy  a  music  box,  and  so  went  to  one  of 
their  large  establishments  in  Geneva  to  look  at 
them.  He  said  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  everything 
had  turned  into  a  music  box.  As  he  sat  down  to 
listen  to  them,  lo,  his  chair  began  to  play  a  tune 
from  a  music  box  under  the  seat.  The  proprietor 
opened  a  window  to  let  in  more  light,  and  the 
window  began  to  sing  its  melody.  He  took  up  a 
pitcher  to  get  a  drink  of  water,  and  lo  the  pitcher 
had  a  music  box  in  it,  which  began  to  play.  He 
opened  an  album  to  look  at  the  photographs,  and 
it  began  to  serenade  him.  Everything  seemed  to 
be  turned  into  music.  Music  boxes  were  every- 
where, music  enough  to  drive  him  wild. 

We  had  an  amusing  experience  at  the  hotel. 
While  my  companion,  Rev.  Mr.  Hoyt,  of  Ball- 


48  RAMBLES    ROUND 

ston  Centre,  N.  Y.,  and  myself  were  dining, 
suddenly  we  heard  the  most  beautiful  singing  by 
a  canary.  We  looked  around  the  room,  we 
looked  out  through  the  windows,  but  the  bird  we 
did  not  see.  As  we  did  so,  we  noticed  that  some 
of  the  older  guests  were  smiling  at  us.  By  and 
by  we  discovered  that  the  canary  was  a  music 
box  hidden  in  a  pot  of  false  flowers  right  in  front 
of  us  on  the  table.  On  the  top  of  the  boquet  of 
flowers  sat  a  canary  bird  which  opened  its  mouth 
(by  machinery),  and  out  of  it  seemed  to  come  the 
exquisite  imitation  of  a  bird's  song  from  the  mu- 
sic box  underneath.  The  next  day  some  new 
comers  were  placed  just  opposite  to  us  at  dinner. 
And  by  and  by  the  music  box  or  canary,  right  in 
front  of  them  on  the  table,  began  to  sing.  They 
looked,  as  we  had  done  the  day  before,  around 
the  room  and  out  the  window.  It  was  now  our 
turn  to  smile  at  the  ignorant,  until  they  finally 
discovered  the  singer  in  the  flowers  right  in  front 
of  them. 

But  let  us  start  out  to  view  the  city.  We  go 
across  the  river  Rhone,  past  Rosseau's  isle  in  the 
river,  over  to  the  old  city.  As  we  walk  along- 
over  the  Rhone  with  its  clear  blue  waters,  my  com- 
panion,  himself  a   Presbyterian    minister,  says  : 


REFORMED    LANDS.  49 

"  I  now  see  why  Calvinism  is  generally  consid- 
ered so  blue.  It  is  because  the  river  Rhone  is  so 
blue  that  it  has  colored  their  theology." 

We  finally  arrive  at  the  church  of  Calvin,  the 
St.  Peter's  church.  It  is  an  old  church,  having 
been  built  in  the  eleventh  century.  But  it  is  a 
very  plain  building,  both  within  and  without. 
We  find  in  its  interior,  near  the  pulpit,  Calvin's 
chair,  in  which  he  used  to  sit.  His  house  is 
shown  near  by.  His  grave  in  the  cemetery  is 
unknown ;  as  he,  with  characteristic  modesty,  for- 
bade any  monument  in  his  memory.  But  his 
monument  is  not  of  marble,  but  on  paper,  in  his 
master-piece  of  theology,  his  Institutes.  AYhen 
Zwingli  died,  Calvin  was  raised  up  to  take  his 
place  as  the  leader  of  the  Reformed  Church. 
The  workers  die,  but  the  work  goes  on.  Relig- 
ion can  say,  as  the  brook  does  in  the  words  of 
the  poet : 

"  Men  may  come,  and  men  may  go, 
But  I  go  on  forever." 

Zwingli  dies,  but  Calvin  lives  to  take  his  place. 
Now  the  call  of  Calvin  to  be  a  leader  of  the 
Church  is  one  of  the  most  dramatic  in  Church 
history.  And  as  it  took  place  at  this  city  of 
Geneva,  we  w^ill  pause  to  see  it.     Calvin,  the  re- 


50  K AMBLES    ROUND 

former  of  France,  liad  been  driven  out  of  his 
native  land.  He  liad  tied  to  Italy,  but  was  now 
fleeing  from  Italy,  back  to  Germany.  On  his 
way  he  spent  a  night  at  Geneva.  That  ])roved 
to  be  a  night  of  destiny  to  him.  Farel,  the  fiery 
reformer  of  French  Switzerland,  the  Elijah  of 
the  Alps,  happened  to  be  in  Geneva  at  that  time. 
He  had  been  longing  and  praying  that  Provi- 
dence would  send  some  competent  man  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  this  gay  and  learned  city  of  Gene- 
va. He  happened  to  hear  that  Calvin  was  stop- 
ping over  night.  The  fame  of  the  author  of  the 
Institutes  of  Theology  had  already  reached  him. 
He  decided  that  Calvin  was  the  man  for  whom 
he  had  been  seeking  as  the  Keformer  of  Geneva. 
He  called  on  Calvin  and  urged  him  to  stay  and 
preach  to  the  Genevese.  Calvin  replied  to  him 
with  astonishment,  "I  can  not  stop  here  more 
than  one  night."  Farel  pointed  out  to  Calvin 
that  the  Reformation  had  been  miraculously 
established  in  Geneva  ;  that  if  he  did  not  take 
up  the  work,  it  would  probably  perish,  and  he 
would  be  the  cause  of  the  ruin  of  the  Church. 
But  Calvin  could  not  make  up  his  mind.  He 
did  not  want  to  bind  himself  to  any  particular 
Church.     He  wanted  to  travel.     He  wanted  to 


EEFORMED    LANDS.  51 

study.  "  Study,  leisure  !"  said  Farel,  "  what 
must  we  never  practise  ?  I  am  sinking  under  my 
task.  Pray,  help  me."  Calvin  then  pleaded 
another  excuse.  "  The  frail  state  of  my  health 
needs  rest,"  "  Rest,"  exclaimed  Farel,  "  death 
alone  permits  the  soldiers  of  Christ  to  rest  from 
their  labors." 

But  still  Calvin  held  back.  He  felt  he  was 
too  weak  to  undertake  the  burdens  and  endure 
the  opposition  of  reforming  a  great  city.  At  this 
Farel  could  not  restrain  any  longer  a  feeling  of 
anger  and  almost  of  contempt.  "  Ought  a  ser- 
vant of  Christ  to  be  so  delicate,"  he  exclaimed, 
"  as  to  be  frightened  at  warfare."  This  blow 
touched  Calvin.  The  thought  of  preferring  ease 
to  his  Savior's  service  frightened  him.  His  con- 
science was  troubled.  He  became  greatly  agitated. 
'But  still  his  modesty  held  him  back.  "  I  beg  of 
you,"  he  said  to  Farel,  "  to  have  pity  on  me." 
But  Farel,  seeing  that  urging  did  not  succeed, 
then  goes  to  threatening.  He  reminded  Calvin 
how  the  Lord  once  dealt  with  a  case  similar  to 
his  own.  "  Jonah  also,"  he  said,  "  wanted  to 
flee  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  but  the  Lord 
cast  him  into  the  sea."  Calvin  became  still  more 
deeply  agitated.     Farel's  heart  was  hot  within 


52  RAMBLES    ROUND 

him.  Finally,  lifting  his  hand  to  heaven,  Farel 
said,  "  In  the  name  of  Almighty  God  I  declare 
that,  if  you  do  not  answer  the  summons,  He  will 
not  bless  your  plans."  And  then,  fixing  his  eyes 
of  fire  on  the  young  man,  and  placing  his  hands 
on  the  head  of  his  victim,  he,  with  a  voice  of 
thunder,  cried  out :  "  May  God  curse  your  re- 
pose, may  God  curse  your  studies,  if  in  such  a 
great  necessity  you  withdraw  and  refuse  to  give 
us  help  and  suj^port." 

Calvin  at  these  words  shook  and  trembled  in 
every  limb.  God  was  calling  him,  as  He  had 
called  the  prophets  of  old.  The  call  of  Calvin 
was  like  Paul's  call  outside  of  Damascus.  He 
bowed  his  head.  He  gave  up  his  life.  He 
stayed  at  Geneva,  and  became  the  great  reformer 
of  that  city.  For  two  years  he  preached  ;  and 
then  was  driven  out  because  his  rules  were  too 
strict  for  the  citizens.  But  after  three  years  of 
absence,  they  were  glad  to  call  him  back  again. 
He  remained  in  Geneva  for  twenty-five  years, 
until  his  death.  Through  his  efforts  Geneva  be- 
came a  model  city  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Men  in  our  age  may  smile  at  the  strictness  of 
Calvin.  There  is,  however,  no  doubt  but  that 
under  his  rule  the  city  became  a  Utopia,  au 
earthly  paradise. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  53 

One  Sabbath  morning  my  companion  who  is 
a  light  sleeper,  wakes  me  up  very  early.  As 
our  hotel  faces  the  river  E-hone  looking  eastward, 
we  have  a  grand  view  of  Mount  Blanc,  forty 
miles  away,  whose  snow-capped  peak  rises  far 
above  the  distant  hill.  I  follow  him  to  the' win- 
dow of  my  room.  The  sun  has  not  yet  risen, 
but  above  Mt.  Blanc  is  a  cloud,  colored  yellow 
and  red  by  the  sun  below  the  horizon.  This 
cloud  burns  in  the  early  morning  just  like  a  live 
coal  from  off  the  altar  of  God  ;  until  finally  it 
seems  to  burn  itself  away.  While  below  it  Mt. 
Blanc  reflects  its  colors  until  its  whiteness  is 
changed  into  a  delicate  pink  and  then  a  rosy 
hue.  Finally  the  sun  rises  over  the  mountain, 
and  floods  the  earth  with  golden  light. 

Such  a  sunrise  there  was  at  Geneva  in  Calvin's 
day.  The  light  of  the  new  day  of  the  Reforma- 
tion was  dawning — a  day  that  made  Geneva  un- 
der Calvin  the  wonder  of  the  world. 

Just  south  of  Geneva  the  waters  of  the  Rhone 
and  of  the  Arve  rivers  come  together.  The, 
Rhone's  waters  from  the  still  lake  are  as  clear  as 
liquid  crystal.  The  Arve's  waters,  coming  from 
the  glaciers  and  snows,  are  muddy  and  turbid. 
It  is  a  very  interesting  sight  to  see  the  waters  of 


54  RAMBLES    ROUND 

these  two  rivers  meet  and  mingle.  At  first  they 
seem  to  flow  side  by  side,  then  they  seem  to  quar- 
rel and  repulse  each  other.  But  by  and  by  they 
mingle,  a  little  of  the  clear  Rhone  with  a  little 
of  the  yellow  Arve,  until  by  and  by  the  two  flow 
as  one  river.  And  so,  although  Calvin  made 
Geneva  as  pure  as  the  waters  of  the  Khone  that 
flowed  through  it,  yet  there  was  a  wonderful  sub- 
stratum of  wickedness  held  in  check  while  he 
was  living,  which  revealed  itself  after  his  death. 
A  century  passed  away,  and  GencA'a  had  forgot- 
ten Calvin.  Voltaire  and  Rosseau  were  the  lead- 
ers of  Geneva,  and  their  names  are  synonymous 
with  infidelity. 

In  the  centre  of  the  Rhone  river  is  an  island 
called  Rosseau's  isle.  Voltaire's  tomb  is  found 
in  a  little  village  just  outside  of  Geneva.  Where 
Calvinism  once  reigned,  rationalism  and  infidel- 
ity now  hold  sway.  Even  the  church  of  Geneva 
is  no  longer  orthodox,  although  there  are  ortho- 
dox pastors  in  it.  The  Genevese  have  degener- 
ated into  a  pleasure-loving  people.  But  how 
short-lived  have  been  the  boasts  of  these  infidels. 
Voltaire  said  he  was  living  in  the  twilight  of 
Christianity,  and  that  our  religion  would  soon  be 
dead.     What  has  been  true  ?  The  very  press  that 


REFORMED    LANDS.  55 

Voltaire  used  to  print  his  infidel  books,  has  been 
used  to  print  the  Bible  that  he  hated.  And 
Voltaire's  house  is  now  used  as  repository  of  the 
Bible  Society.  He  said  that  the  circulation  of 
the  Bible  would  cease ;  but  now  there  is  a  Bible 
sent  forth  every  time  the  clock  ticks. 

Still  such  was  the  influence  of  Voltaire,  that 
religion  degenerated  to  a  very  low  ebb.  The 
Church  and  ministers  were  largely  given  to 
rationalism.  But  by  and  by,  as  always  haj^- 
pens,  there  came  a  reaction,  and  there  was  a 
revival  of  religion  at  Geneva.  Robert  Haldane, 
an  Englishman,  who  settled  at  Geneva  about  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  became  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  godlessness  around  him ;  and 
he  invited  the  theological  students  of  Geneva  to 
his  house  to  conferences  on  religion.  As  a  re- 
sult, ten  or  twelve  of  these  students  were  con- 
verted. Among  them  was  Felix  Neff,  one  of  the 
most  consecrated  men  of  our  age,  who  laid  down 
his  life  to  preach  to  the  Swiss  who  lived  away 
up  in  the  Alps,  and  who  had  no  religious  influ- 
ences around  them.  Another,  most  famous  of 
his  converts,  was  Merle  D'Aubigne,  the  author 
of  the  History  of  the  Reformation.  Their  con- 
version produced  a  stir  in  the  rationalistic  Semi- 


66  RAMBLES    ROUND 

nary.  So  the  Church  authorities  required  the 
students  to  sign  a  contract,  binding  them  not  to 
preach  the  evangelical  doctrines.  This  some 
would  not  do ;  so  they  sej^arated  from  the  Church 
and  founded  the  Free  Church  of  Geneva,  which 
now  numbers  about  700  members ;  but  which 
has  exerted  a  marked  influence  on  that  canton, 
and  also  a  wide  influence  on  France  and  Bel- 
gium, as  well  as  on  Switzerland. 

Another  of  Haldane's  converts  was  Csesar  Ma- 
lan,  who  exerted  a  great  influence  for  vital  piety 
wherever  he  went.  We  really  owe  one  of  our 
most  famous  English  hymns  to  the  inspiration 
of  this  man.  He  was  visiting  London,  and  one 
evening  he  asked  the  daughter  of  his  host 
whether  she  was  a  Christian.  She  resented  the 
question.  He  said  he  did  not  want  to  press  the 
subject,  but  he  would  nevertheless  continue  to 
pray  for  her.  She  went  on  in  her  pleasures,  but 
she  was  not  at  rest.  Finally  she  came  to  him, 
saying,  "  I  have  been  miserable  for  three  days. 
What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  He  pointed  her 
to  the  Lamb  of  God.  "  What,"  she  said,  "  I,  u 
sinful  creature,  come  to  the  Lamb  of  God." 
"  Yes,"  he  answered,  "  God  wants  you  to  come, 
just  as  you  are."     Charlotte  Elliott  went  home, 


liEFOllMED    LANDS.  57 

knelt  beside  her  chair,  and  asked  God  to  take 
her  just  as  she  was.  Reaching  to  the  chair, 
which  stood  by  the  bed,  she  took  a  piece  of  pa- 
per and  pencil,  and  under  the  holy  influences 
of  her  conversion,  wrote  the  hymn  : 

"Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea, 

But  that  Thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 

Aud  that  Thou  bidst  me  come  to  Thee, 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come." 

O,  how  lasting  are  the  results  of  religious 
work.  Let  me  just  pause  to  gather  up  the  suc- 
cession. Haldane's  brother  was  converted  at 
sea  in  a  naval  battle.  His  conversion  led  to  the 
conversion  of  his  brother  Robert,  who  went  to 
Geneva.  Robert  held  these  meetings  at  which 
Neff,  D'Aubigne  and  Malan  were  converted. 
Malan  is  the  instrument  of  Charlotte  Elliot's 
conversion.  She  wrote  the  hymn,  "Just  as  I 
am."  And  God  alone  knows  how  many  conver- 
sions this  famous  hymn  has  produced.  Who 
can  measure;  the  influence  or  the  end  of  a  single 
conversion  to  Christ? 

What  a  contrast,  the  blessed  influence  of  these 
devoted  Christians  with  that  of  Voltaire.  There 
are  two  graves  at  Gelieva — the  one  of  Voltaire, 
5 


58  RAMBLES    ROUND 

the  other  of  Calvin.  But  how  different  their 
deaths.  Voltaire's  death  was  so  dreadful  that 
liis  physician  withdrew  in  terror,  and  the  nurse 
said  afterward  that  she  would  never  on  any  ac- 
count witness  the  death  of  another  infidel  like 
him. 

How^  opposite  was  Calvin's  death.  He  gath- 
ered the  ministers  around  his  bed,  and  spoke  to 
them  words  of  cheer  and  hope.  His  last  days 
were  spent  in  prayer.  And  one  evening,  at 
sunset,  his  soul  went  to  its  rest.  But  its  sunset 
here  ^vas  the  sunrise  of  an  eternal  day  in  heaven. 
"  How  blest  the  righteous  when  he  dies."  How 
glorious  the  Christian's  hope.  A  visit  to  Ge- 
neva with  such  memories  is  an  inspiration  and 
a  blessing. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  59 


CHAPTER    V. 
Basle. 

Let  us  now  go  from  southern  to  northern 
Switzerland.  Geneva  is  situated  on  the  shores  of 
the  quiet  lake  of  Geneva.  Basle  is  located  on  the 
banks  of  the  rapid  Rhine.  Basle  is  an  old  town, 
having  been  founded  by  the  Romans  as  a  camp. 
Situated,  as  it  is,  near  the  junction  of  three  lands, 
France,  Germany  and  Switzerland,  it  has  grown 
during  the  centuries  to  a  large  and  wealthy  city 
of  45,000  inhabitants.  Down  to  1798  the  clocks 
of  Basle  went  an  hour  in  advance  of  those  in 
other  parts  of  Europe.  This  singular  custom 
was  the  "'•esult  of  a  tradition.  It  is  said  that  on 
one  occasion  there  was  a  conspiracy  to  deliver 
the  town  to  the  enemy  at  midnight.  But  it  was 
defeated  by  the  clock  striking  one,  instead  of 
twelve.  In  commemoration  of  this,  they  always 
kept  their  clocks  one  hour  too  fast. 

Here  I  had  another  of  my  pleasant  experi- 
ences of  Swiss  kindness.  On  one  of  my  visits 
to  it  I  happened  to  have  an  old  gentlemen   as 


60  KAMBLES    HOUND 

a  com[)anion  in  my  ear.  Finding  he  was  from 
Basle,  I  asked  him  a  few  questions.  I  had 
only  an  hour  to  stay,  and  as  I  wanted  to  get 
some  photographs,  I  asked  him  whether  there 
was  a  good  photograplier  near  the  railway  sta- 
tion. When  the  train  arrived,  he  with  great 
kindness  waited  at  the  station  until  I  was  hur- 
ried through  the  custom  house.  And  that  was 
not  enough.  Wlien  I  went  witli  him  out  of  the 
door  of  the  station,  there  was  his  carriage  and 
his  coachman  in  livery  with  a  fine  pair  of  horses. 
He  insisted  on  my  entering  the  carriage  with 
him.  I  said  to  him,  "  This  is  too  kind."  But 
he  insisted,  and  I  took  my  seat  with  him.  He 
ordered  his  coachman  to  take  me  to  tlie  jihotog- 
rapher's.  When  I  came  out  of  the  photogra- 
pher's, there  was  the  carriage  still  waiting. 
And  his  coachman  then  drove  me  back  to  the 
station.  How  beautiful  such  an  act  of  unselfish 
kindness  to  a  stranger  like  myself.  But  the  Swiss 
seem  to  have  warm  hearts  for  the  Americans,  for 
we  are  both  citizens  of  republics.  I  have,  how- 
ever, on  this  visit  an  experience  quite  the  oppo- 
site from  that.  I  was  told  there  is  a  famous  pic- 
ture of  Zwingli  painted  by  Holbein,  the  great 
painter  of  Basle  and  of  tiie  Reformed  Church.   So 


iu:fokmei)  lands.  (31 

I  start  to  find  it.  I  enter  a  pictnre  store.  The 
owner  knows  nothing  abont  it.  I  go  to  another 
store.  The  owner  shows  nie  a  picture  which  I 
buy  as  Zwingli's  j)ortrait  b}^  Holbein.  But  I 
want  to  see  the  original.  I  am  sent  to  a  pho- 
tographer to  see  it.  He  in  turn  sends  me  some- 
where else  to  a  private  family.  My  search  is 
in  vain.  At  length,  disheartened,  I  come  back 
to  the  picture  store  where  I  bought  the  portrait  of 
Zwingli ;  and  the  owner  comforts  me  by  telling 
me  that  the  picture  I  bought  of  him  is  not 
Zwingli,  but  Erasmus.  Then  I  want  him  to 
take  it  back.  But  he  will  not  do  it.  So  all  my 
time  and  money  is  spent  in  buying  the  wrong 
picture  which  I  do  not  want. 

I  also  try  to  find  the  house  of  Calvin,  where 
he  wrote  his  celebrated  Institutes,  the  most  fa- 
mous theology  ever  written.  I  go  to  an  antiqua- 
rian. He  sends  me  to  another.  Finally  one  tells 
me  that  Prof.  Stahelin,  who  lives  away  over  the 
river  in  Little  Basle,  will  know  where  the  house 
is.  I  start  over  there,  although  the  weather  is 
oppressively  hot.  Finally,  after  walking  a  mile 
in  the  hot  sun  at  noon-day,  I  find  him  ;  but  I  also 
find,  after  all  my  search,  that  Calvin's  house  has 
been  torn  down,  and  that  all  I   got  out  of  my 


62  RAMBLES    ROUND 

search  was  a  long  and  hot  walk.  Sucli  are  some 
of  the  tribulations  and  disapi)ointments  of  the 
traveller  who  studies  history.  But  one  can  smile 
at  them  after  they  are  over. 

As  I  am  thus  searching  through  the  streets  of 
the  city,  I  come  to  a  quaint  old  church.  Let 
us  look  through  the  grating  at  the  door  into  its 
interior.  I  look  at  my  guide-book  and  find  it 
is  the  church  of  St.  Martin.  This  church  at 
once  becomes  very  interesting  ;  for  to  it  Zwingli 
came  at  the  age  ofeighteen  as  schoolmaster  in  its 
school.  It  was  while  teaching  here,  that  he 
came  to  a  crisis  in  his  life.  He  met  Thomas  Wit- 
tenbach,  a  teacher  of  Greek,  who  introduced  him 
to  the  study  of  the  New  Testament.  He  urged 
Zwingli  to  read  the  Scriptures.  And  Zwingli 
read  them  so  faithfully  that  he  could  quote 
whole  books  of  the  New  Testament.  Witten- 
bach  implanted  into  the  young  man's  heart  the 
thought  that  afterwards  became  the  key-note  of 
his  faith  and  preaching;  namely,  that  the  Church 
does  not  save  men,  but  that  it  is  the  ransom  of 
Christ  that  saves.  This  meeting  with  Witten- 
bach  settled  Zwingli's  future.  It  prepared  him 
to  break  from  Rome.  And  his  study  of  the  Bi- 
ble made  him  the  Reformer  he  afterwards  be- 
came. I 


REFORMED    LANDS.  63 

But  the  most  imposing  building  at  Basle  is 
the  old  cathedral.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  Prot- 
estant churches  in  Europe  ;  certainly  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  Reformed  Church.  It  is  built  of 
deep  red  sandstone ;  and,  with  its  two  towers  in 
front  and  its  elaborate  architecture,  it  presents 
an  imposing  apj^earance.  Its  interior  is  large, 
and  yet  homelike.  The  cloisters  that  adjoin  it 
are  interesting  ;  for  they  were  the  favorite  resort 
of  Erasmus,  the  oracle  of  Germany  and  the  pet 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  lived  at  Basle,  and 
who  translated  the  New  Testament. 

Back  of  the  church  is  a  museum,  where  they 
show  a  most  curious  picture  called  the  Dance  of 
Death.  This  painting  consists  of  forty-two 
scenes,  each  representing  death  as  coming  to  var- 
ious persons  in  diiferent  occupations  of  life. 
Death  is  represented  by  a  spectral,  rather  a  gro- 
tesque, figure.  Indeed  he  has  almost  a  festive 
appearance,  as  he  seems  to  leap  about  those  whom 
he  is  leading  away  hence.  So  the  23icture  is 
called  "  The  Dance  of  Death."  He  comes  to  the 
pope  in  one  picture,  to  the  king  in  another,  to 
the  queen  in  another,  to  the  cook,  to  the  farmer, 
to  the  blind,  to  the  cripple  ;  and  all  are  equally 
unwilling  to  go  with   him.     The  expression    on 


64 


KAMBLES    KOUND 


all  their  faces  is  most  woe-begone,  as  they  find 
they  must  follow  him. 

This  painting  is  unusually  severe  on  the  Pope 
and  the  bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  it  rep- 
resents them  as  among  the  most  unwilling  to  die. 
It  has,  therefore,  been  supposed  to  have  l)een 
painted  by  some  one  with  Protestant  sympathies, 
and  has  been  referred  to  Holbein.  But  it  was 
painted  fifty  years  before  him.  The  painter  may 
have  had  in  mind  the  plague  or  black  death, 
which  was  sometimes  called  the  death  of  Basle, 
and  prevailed  in  the  fourteenth  century.  This 
picture  may  represent  how  death  came  to  difter- 
ent  classes  of  men  at  that  time. 

But  the  most  interesting  character  in  connec- 
tion with  the  cathedral  and  with  the  city  is 
Ecolampadius.  He  was  the  mild  and  gentle 
saint  of  the  Reformation,  one  of  its  most  beau- 
tiful characters.  He  had  iiot  the  impetuosity 
of  Luther  or  Zwingli ;  but  he  also  had  not  the 
vacillating  character  of  Melanchthon.  He  was 
firm  in  his  convictions,  but  gentle  and  winning 
in  his  way  of  stating  them.  He  was,  with 
Zwingli,  the  twin  Reformer  of  our  Church. 
When  a  boy,  he  had  been  disgusted  by  the  pro- 
fanity and  immorality  of  the  priests.     He,  how- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  05 

ever,  entered  a  monastery  as  a  refuge  for  his 
soul.  But  lie  soon  after  left  it,  saying,  as  he 
did  it,  "  I  have  lost  the  monk,  but  found  the 
Christian."  He  preached  at  first  in  the  small 
St.  Martin's  church  at  Basle,  and  his  sermons 
were  very  earnest  and  made  a  deep  imi^ression 
on  the  peoj)le  hungering  for  the  word  of  God. 

While  he  was  quietly  ^^I'eaching  there,  Wm. 
Farel,  whom  we  learned  about  at  Geneva  and 
who  was  the  fiery  reformer  of  the  Alps,  came 
to  Basle.  Farel  announced  a  disputation  in 
1524.  This  disputation  caused  great  excite- 
ment in  the  city.  Meanwhile  Ecolampadius 
kept  on  quietly  preaching  the  evangelical  doc- 
trines. Ecolampadius  was  afterwards  appointed 
preacher  of  the  great  cathedral.  He  gradually 
introduced  one  reform  after  another,  while  his 
earnest  preaching  of  the  gospel  made  him  many 
friends. 

Finally  matters  came  to  a  crisis  in  1529. 
Some  of  the  Protestants  entered  the  St.  Martin's 
church,  an.d  broke  in  pieces  the  altars  and  im- 
ages. This  led  to  an  uproar  between  the  Prot- 
testants  and  the  Catholics,  Most  of  the  Catho- 
lic party  were  from  Little  Basle,  which  lay  across 
the  Rhine.     And  there  had  always  been  a  sort 


66  RAMBLi:S    ROUND 

of  rivalry  between  the  old  city  and  this  Little 
Basle  across  the  river.  The  various  guilds  of 
the  city  almost  came  to  arras  against  each  other. 
Finally  the  Protestant  party  gained  the  victory, 
and  the  city  council  and  the  university  became 
Reformed.  Ecolampadius  was  made  the  succes- 
sor of  the  bishop  of  Basle,  and  many  of  the 
Catholics  moved  across  the  river  to  Little  Basle. 
And  Basle  has  ever  since  been  Reformed.  Eco- 
lampadius was  the  guardian  angel  of  the  Refor- 
mation through  all  these  difficult  movements. 
His  wise,  but  kind  and  firm  spirit  led  them 
through  the  Red  Sea  of  their  dangers  to  dry 
land  again.  Basle  became  the  seat  of  a  famous 
Reformed  university  with  a  large  number  of 
students.  This  university  has  at  present  within 
it  a  large  theological  seminary,  numbering  105 
students  and  seven  professors,  of  whom  Professor 
Riggenbach  in  Dogmatics,  and  Professor  Orelli 
in  Old  Testament,  are  the  most  famous. 

But  one  of  the  most  intesting  places  in  Basle 
to  the  Christian  traveller  is  the  Basle  Mission 
House.  Europe  has  its  mission  societies  as  well 
as  America,  and  we  can  learn  some  lessons  from 
their  methods  of  work.  There  are  several  mis- 
sion societies  in  Switzerland.     The  one  is   com- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  67 

posed  of  the  Keformed  Free  Churches  of  South- 
ern or  French  Switzerland,  called  the  Mission 
Romande.  There  are  also  two  small  missionary 
societies,  one  at  Glarus,  the  other  at  St.  Chris- 
chona.  But  this  mission  at  Basle  is  the  largest 
and  oldest  of  the  European  Foreign  Missionary 
Societies.  It  is  located  just  outside  of  one  of 
the  old  Koman  gates  of  the  city.  In  a  large 
plot  of  ground,  shaded  with  trees,  stands  a  long 
four-story  building.  This  is  the  Mission  House. 
This  mission  has  an  interesting  history.  It 
was  founded  as  a  thank  offering  to  God  for  sav^- 
ing  the  city  of  Basle  from  bombardment.  In 
the  year  1815  Basle  was  in  imminent  danger  of 
being  bombarded.  A  pious  minister  during  the 
threatened  bombardment  held  his  missionary 
meeting  as  usual.  At  its  close  a  young  man 
presented  himself  as  a  candidate  for  a  mission- 
ary. It  had  been  their  custom  to  send  their 
candidates  to  Berlin  for  preparation  for  missions. 
But  the  war  prevented  this.  So  they  were  com- 
pelled to  educate  these  candidates  at  Basle ; 
and  from  this  grew  this  mission  house.  At  the 
meeting  of  its  board  of  directors,  held  about  six 
months  after,  one  of  them  suggested  that  the 
city  of  Basle  should,  out  of  gratitude  to  God  for 


68  RAMBLES    ROrXD 

its  (lelivei'ance  from  boinbaixlment,  coiitribiite  to 
the  spread  of  God's  kingdom  tliroiiglioiit  tlie 
world.  The  mission  liouse  at  once  began  re- 
ceiving students  and  money  from  Switzerland 
and  neighboring  Wurtemberg  in  Germany.  It 
began  work  in  Kussin  in  1821,  but  afterwards 
was  compelled  to  withdraw.  Now  it  has  mis- 
sionaries in  four  fields — in  East  India,  China, 
the  Gold  Coast  and  the  Cameroons  in  Africa. 
It  now  has  44  stations,  89  ordained  laborers, 
9,497  communicants  and  7,486  pupils  in  its 
schools.  It  has  the  largest  receipts  in  money  of 
any  mission  societies  in  Europe,  receiving  200,- 
000  dollars  annually  (one  writer  says  260,000 
dollars). 

This  Mission  House  differs  in  its  training  from 
our  custom  of  training  missionaries  in  the  United 
States.  It  does  not  require  a  missionary  to  take 
a  college  course  before  it  sends  him  abroad,  as  do 
most  of  our  missionary  societies.  And  it  is  in- 
dustrial as  well  as  educational.  It  receives  young 
men  from  their  trades  and  makes  them  work  a 
certain  number  of  hours  at  their  trade  in  the  in- 
stitution. Indeed,  if  they  have  no  trade,  they 
are  expected  to  learn  either  book-binding,  print- 
ing, carpentering,  or  blacksmithing.     If,  for  in- 


EEFORMED    LANDS.  69 

stance,  a  young  man,  proficient  in  some  trade, 
enters  the  institution,  he  is  taken  on  trial  for  a 
year ;  and  then  for  five  years  more  he  pursues 
the  usual  course  of  studies.  When  they  are 
through,  they  are  sent  out  to  the  mission  field, 
and  are  expected  to  largely  support  themselves 
by  their  trade.  Indeed,  by  it  they  have  en- 
riched the  mission  itself.  Thus  for  instance,  in 
1884,  in  Mangelese,.  where  they  taught  the  na- 
tives weaving,  their  weaving  establishments  pro- 
duced 45,000  yards  of  cloth  in  that  year ;  and 
in  Cananore,  100,000  yards  of  cloth.  The  sim- 
ple-hearted piety  of  the  students,  their  thought- 
fulness  of  each  other  and  their  perfect  resigna- 
tion to  God's  will  in. sending  them  out  whither- 
soever he  would,  is  very  remarkable.  Their  de- 
votional meetings  are  very  soul-stirring,  and  the 
visitor  comes  away  with  an  inspiration. 

I  am  shown  through  the  Mission  House  by  a 
young  German  who  expects  to  come  to  America 
as  a  home  missionary.  He  takes  me  through  the 
Various  rooms.  I  find  their  Missionary  Museum 
especially  interesting.  It  is  a  novelty  to  me,  as 
we  have  almost  nothing  of  the  kind  in  America. 
This  museum  contains  articles  sent  home  by  the 
missionaries.     There  are  heathen  idols  and  hea- 


70  KAMBLES    ROUND 

then  implements  of  wai- ;  also  household  utensils 
and  the  curious  dresses  of  the  natives  in  their 
mission  fields.  I  find  a  series  of  rude  pictures 
descriptive  of  their  missionary  life,  drawn  by 
one  of  the  missionaries.  These  are  very  inter- 
esting. 

I  come  away  from  Basle,  feeling  that  the  Lord 
has  much  j^eople  in  the  city.  Of  the  churches, 
about  half  of  the  pastors  are  evangelical.  The 
evangelical  influence  has  always  been  strong. 
But  heterodoxy  is  making  sad  inroads,  owing  to 
the  unfortunate  union  of  the  State  with  the 
Church.  O,  that  some  new  Ecolampadius  would 
arise ;  O,  that  some  new  Zwingli  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  would  come,  to  dispel  the  dark- 
ness of  rationalism  to-day,  as  they  had  driven 
away  the  darkness  of  Romanism  in  the  sixteenth 
century. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  71 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Strasburg. 

A  ride  through  the  flat  plain  down  the  upper 
Rhine  brings  me  to  Strasburg.  Long  before  the 
city  is  reached,  the  tall  spire  of  its  cathedral  (?an 
be  seen,  rising  like  a  gigantic  needle  out  of  the 
flat  plain  that  surrounds  the  city.  But  it  seems 
as  if  we  will  never  get  into  the  city.  The  railway 
winds  around  the  city,  until  at  last  the  train  rushes 
through  strong  fortifications  and  enters  within 
the  walls ;  for  the  city  is  magnificently  fortified. 
The  Germans  have  made  it  almost  impregnable 
by  increasing  the  fortifications.  And  so  all  trains, 
no  matter  from  what  direction  they  come,  must 
enter  the  city  at  one  gate  only.  The  city  contains 
about  100,000  inhabitants,  and  is  the  headquarters 
of  the  fifteenth  corps  of  the  German  army.  Stras- 
burg was  originally  a  German  city,  but  was 
wrested  from  Germany  by  France  two  hundred 
years  ago.  Only  in  1870  it  was  restored  to  Ger- 
many, after  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  The  city 
is,  therefore,  largely  French,  and  its  sympathies 


72  EAMBLE8    KOUND 


are  entirely  with  the  French.  Only  a  strong 
army  prevents  it  from  going  back  to  France. 

Strasbnrg  is  a  quaint  old-fashioned  city.  The 
long  steep  roofs  of  its  houses,  with  their  gable  ends 
pointing  to  the  streets,  give  it  this  appearance. 
And  to  complete  the  picture,  on  the  high  chimney 
of  many  of  the  houses  is  a  stork's  nest,  with  per- 
haps one  of  these  white  birds  sitting  on  the  nest, 
or  standing  on  one  leg,  while  it  rests  itself.  These 
storks  look  like  white  watchmen  perched  on  the 
roof;  and  while  the  German  soldiers  watch  the 
city  without,  these  birds  of  peace  watch  over  the 
city  within  as  the  silent  sentinels.  The  people 
treat  them  very  kindly,  and  consider  it  an  omen 
of  good  luck  if  a  stork  makes  a  nest  on  their 
house.  The  birds  go  south  before  the  winter,  but 
return  in  the  spring,  and  return,  it  is  said,  to  the 
same  nest  year  after  year. 

As  we  go  into  the  city,  it  seems  we  see  nothing 
but  soldiers.  The  magnificent  soldiers  of  the  Ger- 
man emj^ire  are  represented  here  by  one  of  their 
best  corps.  In  the  streets,  at  the  restaurants,  ev- 
erywhere, one  is  continually  meeting  them.  As  we 
walk  through  the  street,  the  j^eculiar  dress  of  the 
women  also  strikes  our  notice.  Many  of  them, 
especially  the  country  women,  wear  the  Alsatian 


REFOKMED    LANDS.  73 

head-dress,  whose  bows  look  not  unlike  Japanese 
kites,  whose  wings  are  flapping  on  their  heads 
as  they  walk.  They  look  not  unlike  variegated 
bats  resting  on  the  heads  of  the  ladies.  The 
storks  made  their  nests  on  the  houses,  but  these 
Alsatian  bows  are  like  birds'  nests  on  the  heads 
and  hair  of  the  people. 

It  happened  that  my  companion,  Kev.  Mr.  Hoyt, 
was  wearing  an  English  helmet  hat.  This  style 
of  hat  was  a  novelty  to  those  Germans.  Indeed, 
in  Italy,  when  all  three  of  us  wore  these  hats,  they 
were  such  a  novelty  that  when  the  people  half 
a  square  off  caught  sight  of  us,  they  would  be- 
gin to  smile ;  and  as  they  passed  us  they  would 
laugh  ;  and  when  they  got  behind  us,  they  would 
burst  out  into  a  loud  ha-ha.  One  of  the  gentle- 
men was  so  glad  to  get  rid  of  his  helmet-hat  that 
he  used  it  for  a  lunch  basket  one  day,  and  then 
left  it  behind  him  on  the  train. 

Now  the  helmet-hat  of  my  companion  must 
have  struck  the  fancy  of  these  three  women  of 
Strasburg,  for  they  stopped  stock  still  on  the 
other  side  of  the  street  to  gaze  at  him.  He  had 
been  annoyed  before  by  the  people  looking  at  his 
hat ;  so  he  was  rather  nettled  by  their  gaze  and 
stood  stock  still,  too  ;  while  he  looked  at  the  Al- 
6 


74  RAMBLES    ROUND 

satian  head-dresses  of  these  three  women,  which 
were  as  strange  to  him  as  his  hat  was  to  them. 
I  watched  with  interest  to  see  what  would  be  the 
outcome  of  this  effort  to  outlook  each  other.  Fi- 
nally the  women  evidently  were  satisfied,  for  they 
turned  away.  My  companion  then  also  turned 
around  to  me  and  (referring  to  their  fashions) 
said  :  "  Well,  if  they  can  stand  it,  I  can." 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  I  had  heard  a 
great  deal  about  the  church  singing  of  the  Ger- 
man people,  so  I  determine  to  hear  a  congrega- 
tion sing.  The  porter  of  the  hotel  tells  me  there 
is  a  large  Lutheran  church  near  the  hotel,  so 
we  start  for  it.  When  we  arrive  at  it,  the  door 
is  shut ;  but  we  gently  j^ush  it  open,  and  sud- 
denly find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  people  kneel- 
ing on  the  floor  around  us.  I  said  :  "  This  must 
be  a  Catholic  church,"  for  there  was  also  a  scent 
of  incense  in  the  air.  Walking  carefully  among 
the  kneeling  worshippers,  so  as  to  see  whether 
we  had  made  a  mistake  or  not,  we  got  sight  of  a 
priest  at  the  altar  performing  the  Romish  cere- 
monies. Then  we  knew  that  we  had  gotten 
into  a  Catholic  church,  and  we  hasten  back  to 
the  hotel.  I  said  to  the  j)orter,  "  You  told  us 
that  that  was  a  Lutheran  church,   but  it  is  a 


REFORMED    LANDS.  75 

Catholic  church."  "  Oh,"  he  said,  "  it  is  a  Lu- 
theran church,  but  you  got  into  the  wrong  end 
of  the  buikling."  The  church  was  a  very  large 
building,  erected  before  the  reformation  ;  and 
was  then  divided  by  a  wall — the  Lutherans  wor- 
shipping in  one  end  of  the  building,  and  the 
Catholics  in  the  other.  And  we  had  gotten  to 
the  Catholic  end  of  the  building.  So  we  start 
out  again  to  find  the  service.  But  by  this  time 
it  has  gotten  late,  and  as  we  come  to  the  door  of 
the  church,  we  can  hear  that  the  minister  is 
preaching.  We  will  try  and  slip  in  quietly,  so 
as  not  to  disturb  the  service.  But  alas  for  us 
again,  we  make  quite  a  sensation ;  for  when  we 
go  in  the  door,  we  find  we  have  by  mistake  got- 
ten on  the  women's  side  of  the  church  (for  in 
Germany  the  sexes  sit  separate),  and  the  wom^n 
around  us  turn  their  heads  to  see  what  strange 
interlopers  have  come  into  their  part  of  the 
church.  The  best  we  can  do  is  to  sit  down  qui- 
etly and  wait  until  the  end  of  the  sermon,  and 
then  go  to  the  men's  side,  which  we  do  after- 
wards. After  the  sermon,  a  German  hymn  is 
sung  with  German  heartiness,  and  the  congre- 
gation is  dismissed.  The  next  day  we  visit  a 
beautiful  monument  to  Marshal  Saxe  in  the  St. 
Thomas'  church. 


76  RAMBLES    ROUND 

The  great  building  of  Strasburg  is  the  cathe- 
dral. It  towers  high  above  all  the  other  buildings 
of  the  city,  and  is  the  one  conspicuous  object  of 
the  town,  and  it  is  interesting  as  it  is  imposing. 
It  is  an  immense  structure,  covering  probably  a 
whole  square  of  ground,  according  to  our  Ameri- 
can calculation.  Its  spire  is  465  feet  high,  be- 
ing one  of  the  highest  in  Europe.  It  is  a  weary 
climb  up  to  the  platform  on  the  roof  of  the  church, 
200  feet  above  the  ground.  But  there  is  a  fine 
view  over  the  wedge-shaped  roofs  of  the  city,  with 
storks  as  their  watchers,  and  out  over  the  flat 
plain  to  the  Rhine,  two  miles  distant.  Here  one 
gets  a  fine  conception  of  the  immense  earthen  for- 
tifications that  surround  the  city.  The  interior  of 
the  church  is  also  imposing.  Its  nave  is  99  feet 
high  and  several  hundred  feet  long. 

The  most  interesting  object  in  the  cathedral  is 
the  famous  Strasburg  clock.  This  is  a  piece  of 
wonderful  mechanism.  It  is,  I  suppose,  40  to  50 
feet  high.  Its  machinery  is  the  growth  of  cen- 
turies of  improvement.  It  was  begun  in  1352,  and 
the  last  improvement  to  it  was  made  in  1842.  At 
noon  every  day  it  goes  through  quite  a  perform- 
ance, which  is  attended  by  a  large  crowd.  I  sup- 
pose there  are  about  a  hundred  people  present  to 


REFOKMEI)    LANIXS.  77 

watch  it.  When  noon  arrives,  the  figure  of  death 
strikes  the  hour.  Around  him  are  grouped  fig- 
ures representing  boyliood,  youth,  manhood  and 
okl  age.  A  genius  at  his  side  turns  the  hour 
glass.  In  a  higher  niche  the  twelve  apostles  move 
round  the  figure  of  the  Saviour  who  lifts  his  hands 
to  bless  them.  On  the  top  of  the  side  tower  of 
the  clock  a  rooster  flaps  his  wings,  stretches  his 
neck  and  crows  three  times,  so  that  the  eclioes 
can  be  heard  all  throuoh  the  vast  buildino-.  The 
clock  is  wonderful  in  its  machinery,  but  the  most 
wonderful  part  of  it  is,  that  it  can  regulate  and 
adapt  itself  to  the  seasons  for  an  almost  unlimited 
number  of  years. 

Leaving  the  clock,  as  I  stroll  through  the  im- 
mense edifice,  I  hear  a  sound.  It  seems  like  the 
croaking  of  the  frogs,  such  as  I  used  to  hear  in 
my  boyhood  days  in  a  pond  near  my  home  in 
Reading.  It  sounds  so  strange  in  a  church  that 
I  conclude  to  investigate  it.  As  I  listen,  I  find 
it  proceeds  from  a  chaj^el  on  the  other  side  of  the 
church,  the  chapel  of  St.  Lawrence.  The  croak- 
ing of  the  frogs  turns  out  to  be  the  droning  of  the 
priests,  as  they  repeat  parrot-fashion  their  morn- 
ing service.  They  go  through  it  in  a  perfunc- 
tory, drawling  way,  which,  as  it  re-echoed  through 
the  building,  sounded  so  very  strangely  to  me. 


78  RAMBLES    ROUND 

And  here  we  come  to  a  very  interesting  fact 
in  history.  This  great  cathedral  of  Strasburg, 
now  a  Catholic  church,  was  once  a  Protestant 
cathedral ;  yes,  it  once  had  Reformed  preaching 
in  it.  For  here  it  was  that  Matthew  Zell,  one  of 
the  preachers  of  the  cathedral,  began  preaching 
the  evangelical  faith  in  1521,  by  expounding  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans.  He  began  preaching 
thus  in  this  very  chapel  of  St.  Lawrence,  in 
which  I  heard  the  droning  of  the  priests.  This 
small  chapel  soon  became  too  small  for  his  audi- 
ences, so  he  began  to  preach  in  the  great  audi- 
torium of  the  Cathedral.  But  as  the  bishop 
would  not  allow  him  to  preach  such  doctrine 
from  the  great  pulpit  of  the  Cathedral,  the  car- 
penters of  the  neighboring  street  made  a  port- 
able wooden  pulj^it  for  him,  which  was  taken 
out  as  soon  as  he  was  done  preaching.  But  he 
had  large  congregations  to  hear  his  earnest  ser- 
mon. 

When  Martin  Bucer,  the  great  Reformer  of 
Strasburg,  came,  Zell,  whose  house  was  an  asy- 
lum for  persecuted  Protestants,  received  him  into 
his  home.  He  also  loaned  Bucer  his  wooden 
pulpit,  so  that  he  could  preach  in  the  Cathedral. 
One  day,  when  Bucer  was  preaching  in  the  St. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  79 

Lawrence  chapel  (for  this  chapel  was  the  birth- 
place of  the  reformation  in  Strasburg) ,  the  monks 
went  into  the  choir  of  the  church  and  began 
singing  their  services ;  thus  trying  to  drown  his 
voice  in  preaching.  Bucer's  hearers  became  en- 
raged at  this  interruption,  and,  after  expostulat- 
ing with  the  monks,  were  about  ejecting  them 
from  the  choir.  A  riot  was  threatened,  when 
the  city  authorities  appeared.  This  brought 
matters  to  a  crisis,  for  both  parties  were  brought 
before  the  city  council.  It,  however,  decided  in 
favor  of  the  Evangelicals,  and  Bucer  was  then 
called  to  the  St.  Aurelian  church. 

It  happened  that  the  tomb  of  St.  Aurelian  in 
that  church  was  famous  for  the  cures  it  wrought. 
But  Bucer  preached  so  strongly  against  this  su- 
perstition that  the  saint's  body  was  taken  out  of 
the  church,  and  Protestant  worship  introduced. 

Bucer  inclined  more  and  more  toward  Zwing- 
li's  views,  and  away  from  Luther's  ;  so  that  at 
the  Marburg  conference  he  sided  with  Zwingli. 
Both  Ecolampadius  and  Zwingli  stayed  twelve 
days  at  Strasburg  on  their  w^ay  to  Marburg,  and 
Zwingli  preached  with  great  acceiDtance  to  large 
crowds,  perhaps  in  this  Cathedral.  Strasburg  also 
became  a  refuge  for  the  persecuted  Protestants. 


% 


80  RAMBLES    ROUND 

Calvin,  the  great  reformer  of  France,  came 
here  in  1538,  as  pastor  of  a  church  of  French 
Reformed  refugees  numbering  1500.  When  he 
came,  he  preached  first  in  the  church  of  the  Do- 
minicans. But  afterwards  the  church  of  St. 
Nicholas,  near  the  111  river,  was  given  to  his 
French  congregation  for  worship.  Under  his 
wise  management  and  strict  church  discipline, 
his  church  became  a  model  church  for  piety  and 
activity.  Calvin's  visit  to  Strasburg  may  have 
saved  Germany  from  going  back-  to  the  Catholic 
Church  ;  as  Melanchthon  was  very  vacillating  at 
that  time,  and  needed  Calvin  to  stiffen  and  brace 
him  up. 

Calvin  found  a  wife  for  himself  at  Strasburg 
in  Idellette  De  Bure.  But  he  went  back  to  Ge- 
neva, and  Bucer  left  for  England,  and  a  new 
leader  appeared  in  Strasburg  in  Marbach.  He 
introduced  strict  Lutheran  ism  into  the  churches, 
against  the  jirotests  of  Sturm,  the  rector  of  the 
Reformed  High  School,  and  of  Zanchius,  pro- 
fessor of  theology  there. 

The  first  discussion  about  predestination  after 
the  Reformation  took  place  at  that  time  at  Stras- 
burg. But  Zanchius  left  and  Sturm  died ;  and 
Strasburg,  after  being  mainly  Reformed  for  60 


REFORMED    LANDS.  81 

years,  drove  out  the  Reformed  as  heretics ;  so  that 
thay  had  to  go  to  Wolfisheim  to  worship.  (The 
site  of  Wolfisheim  is  now  occupied  by  Fort 
Prince  Bismark.)  And  for  two  hundred  years 
no  Reformed  worship  was  permitted  in  Stras- 
burg,  until  1789. 

For  one  hundred  years  after  the  driving  out 
of  the  Reformed,  the  cathedral  was  Lutheran ; 
and  then,  when  King  Louis  the  XIV.  conquered 
Strasburg,  it  became  Catholic,  as  it  is  to-day. 
As  a  result  of  these  political  changes,  the  Re- 
formed church  of  Strasburg  and  of  Alsace-Lor- 
raine, to  which  it  belongs,  was  for  two  hundred 
years  under  the  French  government  and  a  part 
of  the  Huguenot  Church  of  France.  Only  lately 
has  this  Church  become  a  part  of  Germany.  As 
a  result  of  their  sufferings  from  the  Catholic 
power  of  France,  they  are  the  more  devotedly 
attached  to  the  Reformed  Church  and  customs. 
The  Evangelical  or  United  Church  of  Germany 
is  trying  hard  to  get  them  to  join  it,  but  as  yet 
without  success. 

This  Reformed  denomination  of  Alsace-Lor- 
raine numbers  about  50,000  members.  Its  gov- 
ernment is  by  consistories.  The  Reformed  con- 
gregation at  Strasburg  numbers  nearly  a  thou- 


82  RAMBLES    KOUND 

sand  members,  of  which  Rev.  Mr.  Piepeubring 
is  pastor.  There  is  a  large  university  at  Stras- 
burg,  which  has  in  it  a  professor  of  Reformed 
theology.  This  chair  is  now  occupied  by  Prof. 
Alfred  E.  Krause. 

There  is  a  beautiful  story  told  in  connection 
with  this  university  about  Yung  Stilling,  one  of 
the  best  devotional  writers  of  the  Reformed 
Church  of  Germany.  He  was  very  poor  when 
he  started  for  this  university.  He  had  only 
forty-six  dollars  with  which  to  begin  a  course 
that  would  cost  him  a  thousand.  But,  though 
poor  in  money,  he  was  rich  in  faith.  When  he 
arrived  at  Strasburg,  he  had  but  a  dollar  left. 
As  he  walked  the  street,  he  met  a  gentleman, 
who  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  there.  He 
answered  that  he  was  there  to  study  medicine. 
"  Where  do  you  get  the  money  from  ?"  the  gen- 
tleman asked.  "  I  have  a  rich  father  in  heaven," 
was  his  answer.  The  gentleman  looked  steadily 
at  him  and  asked  him,  "  How  much  money  have 
you  now  ?"  "  One  dollar."  "  Well,  I  am  one 
of  the  Lord's  stewards,"  he  said,  and  he  gave 
him  thirty-three  dollars.  Stilling,  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  says,  "  I  am  now  rich  enough  ;  I  want 
no  more."     By  and  by  his  thirty-three  dollars 


REFORMED    LANDS.  OH 

were  all  gone.  But  lie  prayed  the  more  earn- 
estly. Just  then  his  room-mate  said  to  him : 
*'  Stilling,  I  believe  you  did  not  bring  much 
money  with  you,"  and  he  offered  him  thirty  dol- 
lars in  gold.  Some  time  after  that  he  had  to 
pay  his  lecturer's  fee  or  have  his  name  struck 
from  the  list.  The  whole  day  before  this  came 
due,  was  spent  in  prayer.  The  last  moment  had 
almost  arrived.  He  was  in  agony.  His  faith 
began  to  fail.  His  face  was  wet  with  tears.  Just 
then  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door.  It  was  the 
gentleman  who  rented  him  his  room.  He  said 
he  had  called  to  ask  how  Stilling  liked  the  room. 
But  he  then  asked  Stilling  whether  he  had  any 
money.  Stilling  had  to  confess  that  he  had 
none.  Then  he  answered  :  "  Here  is  forty  dol- 
lars for  you."  After  his  departure,  Stilling 
threw  himself  on  the  floor,  thanked  God  with 
tears,  and  paid  his  fee.  What  led  these  people 
to  give  him  this  money  ?  It  was  his  prayer  to 
God  and  faith  in  God  that  brought  these  bless- 
ings, for  he  was  a  man  of  God. 

These  are  some  of  the  scenes  associated  with 
Strasburg.  The  city  is  to-day  an  artificial  Gib- 
raltar prepared  for  war.  But  over  and  above  it 
the  tall  needle-like  spire  of  the  cathedral  rises, 


84  RAMBLES    ROUND 

pointing  to  heaven.  Some  day  these  fortifica- 
tions will  be  razed  to  the  ground.  But  that 
steeple  will  ever  point  men  to  heaven.  May 
that  day  return  when  this  great  cathedral  shall 
not  be  given  to  monks  and  forms,  but  to  the 
purity  of  the  gospel,  as  in  centuries  past. 


KEFORMED    LANDS.  85 


CHAPTER   VII. 
Heidelberg, 

JHeidelberg  is  the  Mecca  of  the  German  Re- 
formed. It  is  the  most  picturesque  city  in  Ger- 
many, as  well  as  most  interesting  historically ! 
It  lies  in  a  little  narrow  valley  between  steep 
hills,  and  stretches  its  winding  length  along 
the  little  river  Neckar.  Above  the  city,  perched 
like  an  eagle's  nest  on  the  hill  side,  is  the  quaint 
old  castle,  the  grandest  ruin  in  Germany ;  its 
red  sandstone  towers  hung  with  nature's  dra- 
pery of  ivy.  Underneath  the  castle,  almost  like 
chickens  huddled  under  the  mother's  wing,  are 
the  houses  of  the  town  gathered  at  the  foot  of 
the  castle,  so  as  to  be  under  its  shadow  and  pro- 
tection. 

Of  the  present  city  we  shall  have  more  to  say 
in  the  next  chapter.  In  this  we  propose  to 
speak  of  the  Heidelberg  of  the  past.  Heidel- 
berg is  full  of  history.  Every  place  in  it  has 
historic  significance.  The  traveller  is  contin- 
ually reminded  of  the  past.     In  a  quiet,  secluded 


86  RAMBLES    ROUND 

nook  in  the  mountains  southeast  of  the  town  is 
a  spring,  called  the  Wolfspring,  which  takes  one 
back  to  Roman  times.  Here  in  the  days  of  the 
Roman  empire,  the  enchantress  Jetta  was  killed, 
in  spite  of  her  enchantments,  by  the  wolf.  And 
Prof.  Hausrath,  of  the  University  of  Heidel- 
berg, has  written  an  interesting  novel  about  her, 
entitled  "  Jetta's  death  at  the  Wolfspring." 

The  town  originally  consisted  of  a  collection 
of  fishers'  and  sailors'  huts  along  the  river,  while 
the  nobleman's  castle  was  perched  half  a  mile 
away,  up  in  the  mountain  at  the  Molkencur. 
But  the  houses  of  the  fishermen  grew  up  toward 
the  hill,  while  the  prince  brought  his  castle  fur- 
ther down  the  mountain ;  so  castle  and  village 
were  finally  united  into  the  present  city.  The 
most  interesting  building,  next  to  the  castle,  is 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  situated  right  in 
the  centre  of  the  town,  at  the  market  place.  It 
is  a  fine  Gothic  church,  erected  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  Around  this  church 
almost  all  the  religious  history  of  Heidelberg 
clusters.  There  is  another  old  church  nearer 
the  mountain,  called  the  St.  Peter's  church, 
which  was  the  court  church,  while  this  was  the 
people's  church.  But  the  Holy  Ghost  church 
being  the  larger,  was  the  centre  of  religious  life. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  87 

Heidelberg  was  for  many  centuries  the  capital 
of  the  prince  of  the  Palatinate,  whose  territory 
surrounded  the  city.  (As  that  princely  family 
died  out,  it  is  now  included  in  Baden.)  The 
Elector  of  the  Palatinate  was  really  prime  min- 
ister to  the  Emperor  of  Germany — his  leading 
noble.  If  the  Emperor  died,  he  it  was  who 
acted  as  Emperor  until  another  was  elected.  As 
the  Emperor  was  a  Catholic,  and  the  Elector 
was  kept  so  near  to  him,  Heidelberg  remained 
Catholic  until  long  after  the  beginning  of  the 
Reformation.  Jerome  of  Prague,  co-laborer  of 
John  Huss,  as  early  as  1406  had  nailed  theses 
on  the  door  of  St.  Peter's  church.  But  as  the 
university  declared  him  a  heretic,  no  one  heard 
his  disputation,  except  "  the  farmers  and  old 
women."  But  he  scattered  gospel  seeds.  Lu- 
ther, too,  visited  Heidelberg  in  1518,  and  made 
an  address  in  the  Augustinian  cloister  (which 
stood  where  the  University  Place  now  is).  His 
eloquent  defence  of  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  caused  a  great  sensation  at  the  time. 
But  the  city  and  its  ruler  still  remained  Catholic 
for  forty  years  longer.  However,  as  the  people 
around  Heidelberg  were  becoming  Protestant,  the 
city  began  to  feel  its  influence.     And  Protest- 


88  RAMBLES    ROUND 

antism  burst  out  suddenly  in  the  city.  For  on 
the  Sabbath  before  Christmas,  1545,  as  the  priest 
at  the  ahar  was  about  celebrating  mass,  the  peo- 
ple began  to  sing  a  Protestant  hymn.  Congre- 
gational singing  was  something  new  in  a  Catho- 
lic church.  But  the  people  on  that  day  sung 
the  victory  song  of  the  Reformation,  the  hymn 
by  Paul  Speratus :  "  Es  ist  das  Heil  uns  kom- 
men  her."  Rendered  into  English,  the  first 
verse  reads  thus : 

"Salvation  hath  come  down  to  us, 

Of  freest  grace  and  love  ; 

Works  cannot  stand  before  God's  law, 

A  broken  reed  they  prove. 

Faith  looks  to  Jesus  Christ  alone, 

He  must  for  all  our  sins  atone, 

He  is  our  one  Redeemer." 

This  hymn  is  not  the  highest  kind  of  poetry. 
It  is  formal  and  sounds  like  the  Augsburg  con- 
fession put  into  rhyme.  But  this  single  hymn 
opened  cities  to  the  Reformation.  Luther  is 
said  to  have  given  his  last  coin  to  a  beggar,  from 
whom  he  heard  it  for  the  first  time.  After  this 
outburst  of  popular  feeling,  Elector  Frederick 
II.  permitted  them  to  have  their  church  service 
in  German,  instead  of  Latin ;  and  also  allowed 


ELECTOR  FREDERICK  III. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  89 

the  priests  to  marry.  So  Protestantism  was  al- 
lowed. But  it  was  not  fully  introduced  until 
under  the  reign  of  the  next  prince,  Otto  Henry, 
who  was  an  ardent  Protestant.  He  was  a  learned, 
pious  prince.  He  re-arranged  the  university  ; 
said  he  would  endow  it,  if  it  took  his  last  dol- 
lar ;  called  new  professors,  among  them  the  fa- 
mous Olympia  Morata,  one  of  the  most  gifted 
women  of  her  day,  whose  tomb  is  in  St.  Peter's 
church.  She  was  a  beautiful  Christian,  who, 
in  dying,  left  as  her  last  legacy :  "I  distinctly 
behold  a  place  filled  with  ineffable  light." 

Otto  Henry  was  fond  of  art  and  architecture. 
He  built  an  addition  to  the  old  castle,  called  the 
Otto  Henry  Building,  which  is  the  finest  part 
of  the  castle,  and  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of 
Renaissance  architecture  in  Germany.  He  was 
an  enlightened  prince,  whose  life  was  cut  short 
by  death. 

His  successor  was  Elector  Frederick  III.,  one 
of  the  most  pious  princes  of  that  age  of  pious 
princes — the  Beformation.  When  he  came  to 
the  throne,  he  found  the  clergy  sadly  divided. 
Some  were  conservative  in  their  reforms,  others 
were  progressive.  Hesshuss  was  the  leader  of 
the   former,    Klebitz   the  leader  of  the  latter. 


90  RAMBLES    ROUND 

Matters  came  to  a  crisis  one  Sabbath  morning  at 
commnnion,  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
For  Hesshus  tried  to  take  the  cup  from  Klebitz, 
because  he  claimed  that  a  heretic  had  no  right 
to  administer  the  communion.  Finally  the 
Elector,  wearied  of  the  strife,  ordered  two  of  his 
theologians,  whom  he  had  recently  called  to 
Heidelberg,  to  prepare  for  him  a  catechism.  The 
Elector  evidently  was  wearied  at  the  bigotry  of 
the  conservatives  like  Hesshuss,  who  was  a  very 
arrogant  man  ;  for  he  appointed  two  men  who 
were  Calvinists  to  compose  this  catechism.  Ole- 
vianus  was  a  student  of  Calvin,  and  Ursinus  a 
student  of  Peter  Martyr.  They  composed  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  one  of  the  most  honored 
symbols  of  the  Protestant  Church.  And  Fred- 
erick gathered  his  ministers  to  his  castle  to  a 
synod  (or  his  superintendents  to  Kaiserlautern), 
and  they  approved  it.  His  catechism  was  re- 
ceived with  joy  by  the  people,  although  attacked 
by  theologians  outside  of  his  territory.  He  was 
compelled  to  defend  it  at  Augsburg  before  the 
Emperor,  but  afterwards  he  was  permitted  to 
use  it. 

For  thirteen  years  the  Reformed  Church  ruled 
the  Palatinate,  and  then  the  good  Elector  Fred- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  91 

erick  died,  rejoicing  in  Christian  hope.  His  son 
Lewis  was  an  intense  Lutheran,  He  put  Olevi- 
anus  under  house-arrest,  forbade  the  Reformed 
from  preaching  and  drove  them  out.  They  went 
to  Neustadt,  west  of  Heidelberg,  where  Prince 
Casimir,  the  brother  of  Lewis,  who  was  Reformed, 
gave  them  an  asykim.  But  seven  years  later 
Lewis  died,  and  the  Reformed  faith  was  again  in- 
troduced into  Heidelberg.  The  Holy  Ghost  and 
St.  Peter's  churches,  which  had  been  made  Luth- 
eran, were  restored  to  the  Reformed.  Elector 
Frederick  IV.,  the  new  Elector,  was  a  progressive 
prince.  Before  this  day  the  royal  chapel  in  the 
castle  had  been  the  plain,  unsightly  building 
called  the  Bandhaus.  In  it  Olevianus  had 
preached.  But  he  now  built  a  fine  wing  to  the 
castle,  facing  northward,  on  which  are  the  statues 
of  all  the  Electors  before  his  time.  In  this  is  a 
castle  chapel  in  which  he  used  to  worship.  He 
became  the  great  leader  of  the  Reformed  princes 
of  Germany,  and  organized  the  Protestant  Union, 
which  prepared  the  way  for  the  Thirty  Years' 
War.  His  son,  Frederick  V.,  ascended  the 
throne  when  little  more  than  a  lad.  He  married 
the  daughter  of  the  King  of  England,  the  beau- 
tiful princess  Elizabeth.     His  wedding  trip  from 


92  RAMBLES    EOUND 

England  up  the  Rhine  was  like  a  triumphal  pro- 
cession. That  his  bride  might  live  in  comfort, 
he  built  for  her  the  western  end  of  the  castle, 
with  its  large  tower,  and  its  fine  view  over  the 
town  and  the  Rhine  valley  beyond.  He  also  had 
the  castle  ground  laid  out  and  beautified  with 
grottoes,  arbors,  terraces  and  fountains,  so  that 
they  were  the  wonder  of  the  age.  They  were  so 
beautiful  that  King  Louis  XIV.  of  France  was 
jealous  lest  they  outrivaled  his  parks  at  Versailles. 

But  Frederick  was  too  young  for  the  respon- 
sibilities of  his  ]30sition.  And  when  the  throne 
of  Bohemia  was  offered  him,  he  rashly  accepted 
it.  For  it  inveigled  him  into  a  war  which  made 
him  lose  his  crown  and  his  capital  at  Heidelberg. 

Then  began  fo^  Heidelberg  an  era  of  sorrows. 
In  1622  Tilly,  the  Austrian  general,  the  butcher 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  captured  the  city. 
The  sufferings  of  the  people  were  terrible,  as  his 
cruel  soldiers  plundered  the  city.  But  the  great- 
est loss  was  the  removal  of  the  celebrated  Palat- 
inate library  from  Heidelberg  to  Rome,  where 
it  now  is  in  the  Vatican  palace  of  the  Pope. 
The  people  felt  the  disgrace  of  the  loss  of  this 
library  so  much  that  the  Austrians  could  not 
get  any  one  in  the  city  to  pack  it  up  to  be  sent 


REFORMED   LANDS.  93 

away ;  so  they  had  to  get  packers  from  other 
places  to  do  it.  AYhat  the  citizens  of  Heidel- 
berg suffered  during  that  war,  is  difficult  to  de- 
scribe. The  city  dwindled,  the  country  went  to 
waste,  wild  animals  increased  so  much  around 
Heidelberg  that  it  was  unsafe  to  go  through 
the  woods  unarmed,  because  of  the  wolves.  The 
Reformed  j^eople  of  the  city  had  to  suffer  a  good 
deal  of  persecution. 

Tilly  brought  in  the  Jesuits  again  and  drove 
out  the  Reformed  ministers.  After  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  Heidelberg  had  rest  for  forty  years, 
and  then  came  the  more  terrible  wars  under 
Louis  XIY.  of  France.  The  daughter  of  the 
Elector  having  married  the  brother  of  King 
Louis  XIV.,  he  laid  claim  to  the  territory. 
Louis  gave  orders  to  devastate  the  Palatinate. 
Lizzie  Lotte,  his  sister-in-law,  almost  wept  out 
her  eyes  for  her  beloved  Palatinate,  but  could 
not  stay  his  cruel  hand.  French  troops  attacked 
Heidelberg  in  1688.  In  1689,  before  the  French 
troops  under  General  Melac,  the  French  Attilla, 
left  Heidelberg,  they  blew  up  the  castle  (which 
was  left  a  magnificent  ruin) ,  and  they  proceeded 
to  burn  the  city.  The  city  continued  suffering 
until  1693,  when  the  soldiers  drove  the  people 


94  KAMBLES    EOUND 

whom  they  met  in  the  streets  into  the  Holy 
Ghost  church,  locked  them  in  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  set  fire  to  the  steeple  of  the  church. 
The  imprisoned  people,  says  a  writer,  uttered 
cries  enough  to  melt  a  stone.  But  the  soldiers 
kept  the  people  there  until  the  hurning  steeple 
had  fallen  over  on  the  houses,  and  the  roof 
was  in  flames,  and  the  bell  began  to  melt. 
Then  they  left  the  affrighted  people  out.  In 
the  crush  quite  a  number  in  the  church  were 
killed  or  injured. 

Directly  opposite  the  Holy  Ghost  church  is 
the  Ritterhaus,  or  the  house  of  the  knights. 
This  house  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  Re- 
naissance architecture,  like  the  Otto  Henry 
building  at  the  castle.  It  was  planned  by  a 
French  architect,  who  fled  to  Heidelberg  and 
built  it  in  1592.  This  house,  though  the  fires 
of  1693  blazed  around  it,  was  not  burned  in 
either  of  the  conflagrations  of  the  city,  and  is 
still  standing,  a  very  interesting  relic. 

During  all  these  years  the  Reformed  people 
had  to  undergo  great  persecutions.  As  the  rul- 
ing prince  then  was  a  Catholic,  they  had  to  bear 
much  suffering  for  their  faith.  The  Heidelberg 
catechism  was  forbidden,  because  its  eightieth 


KEFORMED    LANDvS.  95 

question  called  the  mass  an  accursed  idolatry. 
Indeed,  the  use  of  the  Reformed  churches  was 
taken  away  from  them,  and  this  church  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  closed  to  them. 

In  1719,  the  Reformed  having  had  their 
churches  in  the  city  shut  against  them,  as  they 
dared  not  worship  in  the  city,  were  compelled 
to  go  to  a  little  village  across  the  Neckar,  called 
Monchhof,  and  there  worship  in  the  open  air. 
This  Monchhof  was  already  a  historic  place  in 
Protestantism,  for  Luther  stayed  there  when  he 
came  to  Heidelberg  in  1518.  There,  too,  the 
Reformed  two  centuries  later  worshipped  amid 
storm  and  persecution,  rather  than  give  up  their 
faith  and  worship. 

But  Reformed  princes  took  up  their  cause  and 
threatened  to  retaliate  on  the  Catholics  by  clos- 
ing up  some  of  their  churches,  unless  this  prince 
would  restore  the  church  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
the  Reformed.  The  king  of  England  threatened 
to  do  this,  and  the  king  of  Prussia  was  on  the 
point  of  closing  the  Catholic  churches  at  Min- 
den  and  Halberstadt,  when  finally  the  Elector 
restored  this  church  to  the  Reformed. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  persecutions  that  our 
Reformed  ancestors  had  to  bear.     Such  historic 


96  RAMBLES    ROUND 

memories  as  these  make  Heidelberg  deeply  in- 
teresting to  ns.  But  enough  for  the  Heidelberg 
of  the  past.  Let  us  visit  the  Heidelberg  of  the 
present. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  97 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Heidelberg  (Continued). 

The  Heidelberg  of  to-day,  how  different  from 
the  Heidelberg  of  three  centuries  ago !  The  for- 
tifications that  once  made  Heidelberg  a  walled 
town,  have  all  been  taken  away.  The  once  well- 
nigh  impregnable  castle  is  in  ruins,  and  the 
once  war-like  city  lies  peacefully  in  the  narrow 
valley  beside  the  Neckar  river ;  while  forests 
and  vineyards  cover  the  hill-sides  around.  The 
railroad  station  where  the  traveller  lands,  is  at 
the  extreme  western  part  of  the  town,  where  the 
little  Neckar  valley  spreads  out  into  the  broad 
plain  of  the  Rhine.  From  the  station  I  take  a 
hotel  coach  and  am  driven  through  the  Anlage, 
with  its  fine  residences  to  my  left  and  the  forests 
of  the  hill  to  my  right.  After  passing  the  St. 
Peter's  church,  our  coach  begins  to  ascend  the 
mountain-side  by  a  steej)  road  winding  up  along 
the  hill-side.  Finally,  the  coach  has  attained  a 
height  of  330  feet  above  the  valley  below,  and  it 
enters  the  road  through  the  park  back  of  the 


98  RAMBLES    ROUND 

castle.  Ascending  this  road,  we  finally  arrive 
at  the  Schloss  or  Castle  Hotel.  This  is  the  ho- 
tel of  Heidelberg,  with  the  best  of  accommoda- 
tions, and  commanding  an  unrivalled  view  over 
the  valley  and  over  the  castle.  Indeed,  the  view 
is  so  fine  that  I  can  not  stay  in  the  hotel,  but  I 
rush  to  the  parapet  in  front  of  the  hotel.  Below 
me  is  the  Neckar,  below  me  is  the  town,  below 
me  is  the  castle,  below  me  is  everything,  except 
the  mountains  around.  One  seems  to  be  sus- 
pended in  mid-air. 

Here  I  spend  several  days  in  an  earthly  para- 
dise, with  such  scenery  and  memories  around 
me.  It  is  only  a  short  walk  to  the  castle.  The 
winding  jiath  leads  through  shady  groves.  The 
trees  in  the  park  around  the  castle  are  so  thick 
with  foliage  that  neither  rain  nor  sunlight  can 
easily  pass  through  them.  In  the  park  back  of 
the  castle  is  a  restaurant.  A  band  is  playing, 
and  one  can  enjoy  the  concert.  Finally  I  come 
to  the  rear  gate  of  the  castle,  which  leads  from 
the  mountain  into  the  castle.  I  enter  and  find 
myself  in  an  open  square  surrounded  by  ancient 
buildings.  These  reveal  various  styles  of  archi- 
tecture, and  were  evidently  erected  at  various 
times.     The  Elector  Rudolph  I.,  about  the  year 


REFORMED    LANDS.  99 

1300,  fiuding  his  castle,  a  little  higher  up  the 
hill  at  the  Molkenciir,  too  small  for  him,  deter- 
mined to  move  his  castle  down  to  this  present 
site,  and  he  it  was  who  erected  the  oldest  of 
these  buildings.  His  successors  added  building 
after  building,  until  finally  Otto  Henry  in  his 
day  added  the  crown  of  the  castle,  the  famous 
Otto  Henry  building,  which  is  the  finest  speci- 
men of  the  Renaissance.  It  rises  in  three  sto- 
ries, richly  ornamented  and  sculptured.  In  the 
niches  are  statues  of  Joshua,  Samson,  Hercules, 
David,  Saturn  and  Mars,  thus  curiously  inter- 
mingling Biblical  and  Classical  characters.  Al- 
legorical figures  of  Strength,  Justice,  Faith, 
Charity  and  Hope  also  adorn  the  wall.  If  this 
building  is  so  beautiful  in  its  ruins,  how  must  it 
have  appeared  when  new  and  complete  ?  On 
the  north  side  of  the  castle  is  the  building  of 
Frederick,  which  contains  the  new  chapel,  and 
beneath  which  is  the  famous  tun  of  Heidelberg, 
an  immense  cask  holding  49,000  gallons.  It  is 
now,  however,  as  every  such  cask  ought  to  be, 
empty.  At  the  western  end  of  the  castle  is  the 
beautiful  English  building  erected  by  Frederick 
V.  for  his  English  bride  (the  present  Queen 
Victoria  is  a  descendent  of  the  intermarriage  of 


100  RAMBLES    ROUND 

this   Palatinate  family  with  the  royal    line   of 
England) . 

After  a  climb  through  various  parts  of  the 
castle,  up  stairs  and  down  stairs,  now  in  the  cel- 
lar, now  on  top  of  a  tower,  now  inside  of  rooms, 
now  out  in  the  open  air  amid  the  ruins,  I  enter 
the  castle  museum.  Here  is  a  collection  of  por- 
traits of  princes  and  princesses,  and  various  other 
antiquities.  The  benignant  face  of  Frederick 
III.  beams  down  on  us,  while  Casimir,  his  son, 
stands  before  us  in  warrior's  guise.  The  beau- 
tiful English  princess  Elizabeth  and  other  fa- 
mous women  are  there  in  portrait.  Many  other 
interesting  relics  of  Heidelberg's  former  great- 
ness are  gathered  here.  But  the  most  interest- 
ing to  me  is  the  early  edition  o±  the  Heidelberg 
catechism  in  1563.  I  asked  the  young  man  who 
had  charge  of  the  museum,  about  this  catechism. 
He  said  nobody  but  Americans  seemed  to  show 
much  interest  in  the  catechism.  The  people  of 
Heidelberg  had,  alas,  forgotten  their  Heidelberg 
catechism.  But  he  was  very  kind  to  me.  See- 
ing I  was  intensely  interested  in  the  book,  he 
tried  to  open  the  case  to  get  it  out.  Finally  he 
pried  it  open  with  a  screw  driver,  and  took  the 
precious  relic  out  and  permitted  me  to  handle 


REFOKMED    LANDS.  101 

it.  I  examined  it  and  found  it  did  not  contain 
the  80tli  question  of  the  catechism.  It  was 
printed  in  1563,  and  bore  the  Palatinate  coat  of 
arms  in  its  front.  Near  it,  in  a  case,  are  me- 
dallion portraits  of  Olevianus  and  Ursinus,  the 
authors  of  the  catechism. 

After  the  examination  of  this  museum,  I  go 
out  into  the  park  around  the  castle.  I  happen 
to  have  a  novel  entitled  "  Heidelberg,"  by  Henry 
James,  the  American  novelist.  It  describes  in 
vivid  colors  the  destruction  of  Heidelberg  castle 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  I 
finish  reading  it  while  sitting  in  the  park.  My 
interest  in  it  becomes  so  intense  that  I  do  not 
see  that  the  sun  has  set,  and  the  twilight  has 
come.  Finally,  after  the  full  moon  had  come 
out,  I  finish  the  book,  and  with  my  mind  filled 
with  weird  scenes  of  the  fall  of  the  castle,  I  walk 
through  the  castle  again.  It  does  not  take  a 
very  vivid  imagination  for  me  to  people  the 
castle  with  faces  of  the  past,  nor  would  I  have 
been  very  greatly  surprised  if  some  of  the 
shadowy  forms  of  the  past  had  come  out  of  the 
arches  and  niches  as  I  pass  through  the  castle. 
As  I  look  from  the  parapet  in  front  of  the  castle, 
the  moon  is  bathing  the  city  and  river  and  plain 


102  RAMBLES    ROUND 

with  her  silvery  light,  and  the  castle  has  at- 
tained a  weirdness  and  beauty  to  me  as  never 
before. 

The  next  day  I  go  through  the  leafy  park 
down  to  the  town.  It  is  an  old-fashioned  place 
of  25,000  inhabitants,  with  narrow  streets  and 
fine  houses.  It  is  a  cross  between  a  rural  and  a 
university  town.  I  want  to  see  the  far-famed 
university,  so  at  last  I  find  the  university  to  be 
a  very  unpretentious  building,  not  nearly  so  fine 
as  many  of  the  college  buildings  in  our  own 
land.  But  they  put  their  money  into  brains, 
not  into  bricks,  as  we  often  do.  As  I  want 
to  see  the  Aula  or  hall  where  the  disputations 
are  usually  held,  I  have  to  face  the  secretary  of 
the  faculty.  But  I  find  this  august  individual 
very  obliging.  The  Aula  is  a  rectangular  room 
with  two  rows  of  benches  on  each  side  near  the 
wall,  and  a  platform  at  the  upper  end. 

I  also  visit  the  excellent  library  of  the  uni- 
versity, where  its  librarian.  Dr.  Jacob  Wille, 
aided  me  greatly.  Then  I  hear  that  they  have 
a  cat  in  the  university.  Having  always  been  a 
great  friend  of  the  feline  race,  I  am  anxious  to 
see  what  kind  of  a  cat  so  great  a  university 
would  honor.     I  discover  that  the  cat  is  the 


KEFORMED    LANDS.  103 

prison  of  the  university.  Why  it  is  called  the 
cat,  I  am  sure  I  can  not  understand.  Perhaps 
it  is  meant  for  men  that  scratch  and  bite.  At 
any  rate,  the  university  authorities  can  there 
imprison  any  of  the  students  for  their  offences. 
I  find  it  consists  of  two  bare  rooms,  in  one  of 
which  is  a  rude  pallet  or  bed  ;  and  on  the  wall 
are  a  number  of  caricatures  by  various  prison- 
ers, some  of  them  so  ]30or  that  I  should  think 
they  ought  to  be  put  in  prison,  if  for  nothing 
else,  for  making  such  daubs.  Although  it  is 
vacation  time,  I  find  there  is  one  student  in  j^ri- 
son,  and  he,  strange  to  say,  is  a  theological  stu- 
dent. This  does  not  argue  well  for  the  future 
ministers,  if  theological  students  must  be  up  to 
such  pranks. 

After  leaving  the  university,  as  I  walk  along 
the  street,  I  am  continually  meeting  students, 
who  are  easily  recognized  by  the  low  jaunty 
caps  they  wear.  Every  one  carries  a  cane  and 
a  cigar,  and  many  are  followed  by  a  dog.  As 
far  as  outward  appearances  go,  the  chief  aim  of 
the  Heidelberg  student  seems  to  be  to  drink 
beer  and  fight  college  duels.  Most  people  try 
to  make  themselves  look  as  beautiful  as  possible, 
even  if  they  have  to  resort  to  paint.     But  the 


104  RAMBLES    ROUND 

Heidelberg  student  tries  to  make  himself  as  ugly 
as  possible ;  for  lie  will  fight  a  duel,  just  so  that 
his  face  may  be  cut,  and  hacked  and  sliced. 

Across  the  Neckar  river,  running  along  the 
hillside,  is  a  fine  carriage  road  called  the  Phi- 
losopher's Way.  We  do  not  know  where  their 
philosophies  end,  but  we  do  know  that  this  Phi- 
losopher's Way  stops  at  its  upper  end  near  a 
house  in  which  the  students  fight  their  duels. 
The  students  of  the  different  societies  challenge 
each  other,  and  they  must  fight  it  out.  Each 
takes  a  small  sword,  and  they  proceed  to  cut, 
and  slash  and  thrust  to  their  hearts'  content,  ac- 
cording to  the  latest  approved  methods  of  mod- 
ern barbarism.  A  doctor  is  always  at  hand  to 
render  assistance,  and  a  number  of  students  are 
also  there  to  watch  the  brutal  scene.  It  is  not 
a  bull-fight,  as  in  Spain  ;  it  is  worse,  it  is  a  man- 
fight.  After  the  one  or  the  other  has  come  out 
victorious,  then  the  doctor  binds  up  the  wounds 
in  their  faces.  But  the  nerviest  of  them  have 
been  known  to  tear  open  the  wounds,  so  that  the 
scars  might  be  larger.  For  they  consider  it  an 
honor  to  bear  a  scar  in  the  face.  As  a  result, 
I  am  continually  meeting  students  whose  faces 
are  either  bound  up  with  plasters,  or  bear  the 


EEFOKMED    LANDS.  105 

purple  scars  of  wounds  received  in  these  duels. 
The  German  universities  will  never  command 
the  respect  of  the  world,  until  they  purge  them- 
selves from  such  relics  of  barbarism  like  this. 

But  here  we  come  to  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  cathedral  church  of  the  city.  The 
church  stands  in  the  large  market  j^lace  or  open 
square,  in  the  centre  of  the  city.  It  is  not  often 
that  you  see  a  church  hung  with  old  clothes. 
But  there  are  a  number  of  stores  around  its 
walls,  many  of  which  have  dry  goods  and  cloth- 
ing for  sale  ;  so  that  business  and  religion  seem 
to  meet  on  the  walls  of  this  church.  The  church 
is  divided  into  two  parts  by  a  wall.  The  small 
part,  or  the  choir,  has  been  given  to  the  Old 
Catholics,  while  the  Protestants  worship  in  the 
nave  of  the  church.  This  middle  wall  which 
separates  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants,  has 
an  interesting  history.  After  the  city  had  been 
captured  by  Louis  XIV.,  there  was  issued  an 
edict  in  1698,  by  which  240  Protestant  churches 
in  the  Palatinate  were  given  to  the  Catholics,  to 
be  used  in  common  with  the  Protestants.  This 
made  trouble.  For  the  Catholics  were  aggres- 
sive and  selfish.  The  result  was  that  the  Catho- 
lics soon  gained  the  exclusive  control  of  many 
8 


106  RAMBLES    KOUND 

of  these  cliurches,  among  them  this  Holy  Ghost 
church,  which  was  closed  to  the  Keformed.  But 
Protestant  princes  took  up  the  cause  of  the  per- 
secuted Keformed,  and  threatened  to  shut  the 
Catholics  out  of  churches  in  their  lands  ;  so  the 
matter  was  compromised  by  building  a  wall  in 
the  Holy  Ghost  church,  and  giving  part  of  the 
church  to  the  Catholics  and  part  to  the  Re- 
formed. This  wall  was  built  in  1705,  and  was 
taken  down  in  1886  on  the  occasion  of  the  oOOtli 
anniversary  of  the  University.  The  church  is 
now  used  by  both  Protestants  and  Old  C^atholics. 
But  as  the  Old  Catholics  of  Heidelberg  are  not 
Roman  Catholics,  and  are  almost  Protestants, 
there  is  not  so  much  difference.  (The  Old 
Catholic  minister  lately  became  a  Protestant.) 

On  Sunday  morning  I  attend  service  at  this 
ancient  church.  The  interior  of  the  building  is 
very  plain,  but  it  is  large  and  roomy.  A  fair 
congregation  is  present.  The  minister  preaches 
on  the  anointing  of  Christ  by  the  Avoman.  It  is 
a  very  ordinary  sermon,  with  not  much  gospel 
in  it.  The  minister  is  evidently  rationalistic. 
But  I  am  comforted  when  I  hear  the  people  sing 
the  German  hymn  :  "  Jesus  nimmt  die  Suender 
an."     (Christ  receiveth  sinful  men.) 


REFORMED    LANDS.  107 

This  hymn  is  sung  both  before  and  after  the 
sermon,  and  there  is  more  gospel  in  the  hymn 
than  in  the  sermon.  For  it  is  a  very  sad  fact 
that  ahhough  Heidelberg  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury was  the  seat  of  gospel  light  and  influence, 
which  led  to  the  publication  of  our  Heidelberg 
catechism,  to-day  it  is  the  seat  of  heterodoxy 
and  religious  indifference.  There  is  not  a  single 
distinctly  evangelical  preacher  in  any  of  the 
pulpits  of  the  city. 

All  the  ministers  of  the  city  churches  are  ra- 
tionalistic. About  forty  years  ago  there  came 
to  Heidelberg  a  Professor  Schenkel.  Although 
elected  as  a  Reformed  professor,  he  soon  began 
attacking  the  evangelical  faith,  and  carried  the 
university  with  him.  Heidelberg  has  since  be- 
come noted  as  the  seat  of  liberalism.  And  as 
these  professors  preach  in  the  city  pulpits,  they 
filled  the  town  with  their  views.  But  as  they 
filled  the  town,  they  emptied  their  churches.  A 
great  part  of  the  i^opulation  do  not  attend  church. 
The  only  place  where  there  is  evangelical  preach- 
ing, is  in  a  city  mission,  a  little  unpretending 
chapel  on  a  side  street. 

Several  years  ago,  when  in  Heidelberg,  I  went 
to  this  city  mission  and  found  on  Sunday  after- 


108  RAMBLES    ROUND 

noon  a  few  faithful  people  gathered  there  to  a 
prayer  meeting.  Bo  now  again,  after  four  years' 
absence,  I  hunt  up  that  city  missionary,  in  or- 
der to  see  how  the  Christian  work  in  Heidelberg 
is  going.  For  from  him  I  learn  the  religious 
pulse  of  the  community.  I  find  that  he  is  no 
longer  a  missionary,  but  that  as  the  work  has 
enlarged,  he  has  gone  into  another  branch  of 
Christian  activity. 

There  is  a  form  of  religious  activity  in  Ger- 
many unknown  in  our  land.  It  is  the  opening 
of  homes  or  lodging-places  for  the  young  men. 
There  are  in  Germany  thousands  of  young  men 
who  are  "  Burschen"  or  apprentices  learning 
their  trades.  They  are  expected  to  spend  sev- 
eral years  in  travelling  through  the  country 
perfecting  themselves  in  their  trade,  sup])orting 
themselves  all  the  while  by  odd  jobs  that  fall  in 
their  way.  Now  it  is  evident  that  these  young 
men,  being  away  from  the  restraints  of  home, 
would  have  a  great  many  temptations.  The 
only  places  where  they  could  get  cheap  board- 
ing, would  often  be  a  tavern  with  a  beer  garden 
attached,  so  that  their  scanty  earnings  often 
went  for  beer ;  or  they  were  exposed  to  the 
worse  temptations  of  immorality.    The  Christian 


REFORMED    LANDS.  109 

people  of  Germany,  realizing  the  temj^tations 
that  gathered  around  these  young  men,  have 
begun  to  open  Christian  lodging-j)laces,  where 
they  can  get  board  at  a  very  low  rate,  and  yet 
be  25i"otected  from  temptation  and  be  surrounded 
by  Christian  influences.  The  result  has  been 
most  successful  and  beneficial.  Many  of  the 
cities  have  these  homes,  and  they  are  becoming 
the  centres  of  religious  life  and  activity  to  the 
places  in  which  they  are  located. 

The  city  missionary  of  Heidelberg  has  given 
up  his  former  position,  and  is  now  house-father 
of  this  Homcv  for  young  men.  Although  it  has 
been  opened  only  three  months,  yet  they  have 
an  average  of  70  or  80  young  men,  who  lodge 
there  every  night.  They  pay  from  5  to  12  cents 
a  night  for  lodging.  The  house-father  has  fam- 
ily worship  with  them  every  night,  and  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  find  an  open 
door  and  a  successful  field  in  these  homes. 
•  The  house-father  gave  me  a  very  interesting- 
description  of  the  way  in  which  evangelical  re- 
ligion again  entered  Heidell)erg.  After  the  ar- 
rival of  Prof  Schenkel  in  1851,  church-life  and 
activity  became  dead.  But  there  were  still  a 
few    faithful  Christians    left,  who   prayed   and 


110  RAMBLES    ROUND 

longed  for  some  one  to  come  and  give  them  the 
evangelical  gospel.  They  sent  petitions  to  the 
government  asking  that  one  of  the  ministers  ap- 
pointed to  their  city  might  be  evangelical ;  but 
they  were  refused.  Then  they  offered  to  bear 
the  expense  of  such  a  minister,  so  that  the  city 
would  need  to  pay  nothing  for  his  services.  But 
even  this  was  refused.  Everything  looked  dark 
to  these  faithful  saints.  Finally,  Prof.  From- 
mel,  a  professor  in  the  gymnasium,  began  hold- 
ing services  in  his  own  house.  It  happened  that 
the  queen  of  Sweden  (the  Swedish  royal  family 
is  among  the  most  pious  in  Europe)  was  staying 
at  Heidelberg.  She  attended  these  services  regu- 
larly. This  gave  prominence  to  the  meetings 
and  the  movement.  Finally,  as  their  quarters 
became  too  small  for  the  increasing  audiences, 
they  bought  the  chapel,  in  which  they  now  wor- 
ship, on  Plock  street,  and  called  a  city  mission- 
ary to  preach  to  them.  When  he  first  came,  the 
citizens,  and  especially  the  clergy,  turned  a  cold 
shoulder  to  him.  But  he  called  on  each  of  the 
ministers,  and  told  them  he  had  come,  not  to 
interfere  with  their  work,  but  to  help  them  as 
far  as  possible,  and  to  supplement  their  work, 
when  they  had  not  time  to  do  it.     If  they  had 


REFOEMED    LANDS.  Ill 

any  extra,  work,  like  visiting  the  sick  or  seeking 
the  lost,  he  would  be  glad  to  do  it  for  them. 
He,  however,  never  heard  from  them  afterward. 
He  Avent  about  his  work.  By  and  by  he  was 
called  into  the  hospital  to  visit  and  pray  with 
some  sick  people  there.  His  visits  gave  such 
pleasure  to  the  sick  that  they  asked  him  to 
preach  for  them  ;  and  as  the  city  clergy  never 
took  time  to  come  and  jDreach  for  these  sufferers, 
he  did  so.  Finally  the  city  clergy  brought  com- 
plaints against  him,  that  he  had  no  right  to  do 
this,  and  that  he  was  interfering  with  their  labors. 
So  he  stopped.  But  the  sick  people  begged  so 
hard  for  some  religious  privileges,  that  the  city 
council  finally  allowed  him  to  preach  there. 
This  opened  a  wide  door  of  influence  to  him,  as 
it  brought  him  in  contact  with  the  careless  popu- 
lation of  Heidelberg. 

This  evangelical  work  in  Heidelberg  has  been 
slowly  but  steadily  growing.  There  is  now  an 
attendance  of  300  to  400  at  the  mission.  They 
are  allowed  to  have  the  Lord's  Supper  in  their 
chapel.  On  almost  every  night  in  the  week 
there  is  a  meeting  of  some  kind  in  the  city  mis- 
sion. The  young  men's  lodging  house  and  the 
city  mission  are  closely  linked  together,   so  that 


112  RAMBLES    ROUND 

young  men  of  the  home  are  urged  to  attend  it. 
There  is  now  the  beginning  of  a  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  in  Heidelberg,  numbering 
forty-three  members,  some  of  them,  I  am  glad 
to  say,  being  students.  The  Sunday  school  of 
the  mission  numbers  from  )^()0  to  500  scholars. 
Like  our  American  Sunday  schools,  it  reaches 
its  highest  attendance  about  Christmas  time. 
All  these  agencies  are  but  beginnings  of  greater 
things  in  Heidelberg,  The  missionary  says  that 
the  outlook  is  hopeful  for  the  regeneration  of 
the  city,  but  the  clergy  are  as  dead  as  ever. 

It  is  a  sad  fact  that  Zurich,  the  city  of  Zwingli ; 
Geneva,  the  city  of  Calvin  ;  and  Heidelberg,  the 
city  of  our  catechism,  are  at  present  so  largely 
given  over  to  rationalistic  influences.  In  the 
days  of  the  Reformation  their  danger  was  Ko- 
manism  ;  to-day  it  is  rationalism.  Does  not  our 
Church,  which  received  its  gospel  from  these 
cities,  owe  them  a  debt  of  gratitude  ?  She  could 
show  it  in  no  better  way  than  by  aiding  the 
earnest  efforts  of  the  Christian  people  there,  as 
they  struggle  in  the  face  of  many  difficulties  to 
reclaim  the  cities  to  Christ. 

Heidelberg  is  beautiful  for  situation  in  men's 
eyes — a  garden,  a  paradise.     But  in  God's  eyes 


REFORMED    LANDS.  113 

it  is  a  waste.  O  that  some  new  Olevianus  or 
Ursinus  would  arise,  to  bring  back  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  and  make  the  desert  and  solitary  place 
to  blossom  as  the  rose. 


114  RAMBLES    ROUND 


CHAPTER    IX. 
The  Palatinate. 

While  Heidelberg,  the  capital,  is  the  most  in- 
teresting place  in  the  Palatinate,  yet  a  number 
of  towns  around  Heidelberg  are  also  of  great  in- 
terest. Let  us  visit  some  of  them.  My  first 
visit  is  to  Neustadt.  This  is  a  town  of  about 
10,000  inhabitants,  situated  in  the  beautiful  dis- 
trict of  the  Haardt  mountains,  west  of  the  Rhine. 
It  lies  in  a  broad  valley,  surrounded  by  sloping, 
green,  woody  hills.  On  these  hills  are  here  and 
there  seen  the  picturesque  ruins  of  many  castles, 
which  were  destroyed  when  Louis  XIV.  sent  his 
ravaging  hordes  to  devastate  the  Palatinate. 

But  Neustadt  has  a  special  charm  to  the  Re- 
formed. To  this  little  country  town  among  the 
hills  came  the  Reformed  of  Heidelberg  in  1578. 
When  the  Lutheran  Elector  Lewis  drove  out 
the  Reformed,  his  brother  Casimir,  who  had 
been  their  defender,  received  them  into  his  little 
province  of  Neustadt.  The  Reformed  professors 
of  Heidelberg   University,  like   Ursinus,  Zan- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  115 

chilis  and  Tossanus,  came  to  Neustadt  and  estab- 
lished a  Reformed  university  there,  which  they 
named  the  Casimirium,  after  Prince  Casimir. 
In  its  second  year  it  had  already  eclipsed  the  old 
university  of  Heidelberg.  Students  filled  its 
streets,  many  of  them  from  distant  lands,  who 
were  brought  hither  by  the  fame  of  Ursinus. 
And  this  little  quiet  country  town  was  not  only 
the  religious  centre  of  the  Reformed,  but  it  was 
also  the  political  centre.  For  Prince  Casimir 
was  then  the  leader  of  the  Reformed  in  off- 
setting the  plans  of  the  High  Lutherans  to  in- 
troduce the  Formula  of  Concord.  There  were 
seen  at  Neustadt  not  only  students  and  profes- 
sors, but  ambassadors  from  France,  England  and 
Poland  were  also  there,  to  concert  the  best  meas- 
ures to  protect  and  disseminate  the  Reformed 
faith  through  Europe.  This  university  con- 
tinued in  full  bloom  for  six  years,  until  in  1583 
Elector  Lewis  died  and  Casimir  went  back  to 
Heidelberg  to  introduce  the  Reformed  faith 
there,  and  Neustadt  relapsed  into  its  former 
quietness  again. 

I  visited  Neustadt  in  1884,  and  as  I  had  only 
an  hour  and  twenty  minutes  to  stay,  I  hastened 
from  the  station  to  the  city  church.    Finding  an 


116  RAMBLES    ROUND 

obliging  bookseller  opposite  the  church,  I  ask 
him  if  the  Casimirium  is  still  standing.  "Oh, 
yes,"  he  says,  "  here  is  a  picture  of  it  as  it  ap- 
pears to-day."  I  hastened  along  a  little  street, 
and  there,  beside  a  water-course,  at  the  corner 
of  a  street,  stands  a  little  building,  in  which  Ur- 
sinus  taught.  This  is  the  onl}^  relic  I  could  find 
of  Ursinus.  The  other  places  in  his  life  have 
been  either  lost  or  destroyed.  I  walked  rever- 
ently into  the  little  door  and  into  the  school- 
rooms (the  building  is  now  used  as  a  school), 
and  tried  to  picture  the  scene  when  sage  profes- 
sors and  busy  students  crowded  its  halls. 

Then  over  to  the  old  cit}'^  church,  which  con- 
tains the  tomb  of  Ursinus,  I  went.  Ursinus, 
after  a  life  spent  in  study  and  teaching,  died 
here  on  March  6,  1583.  Over  the  door  of  his 
room  were  these  words  :  "  Friend,  whosoever 
you  may  be,  when  you  come  to  me,  make  the 
matter  short,  or  leave  soon,  or  assist  me  at  my 
work."  This  was  good  advice  to  intruders.  His 
busy  life  sometimes  inclined  him  to  melancholy 
and  overwork.  His  Sapienz  College  at  Heidel- 
berg, where  he  prepared  students  for  the  min- 
istry, became  "  his  tread-mill,"  as  he  says.  The 
various   adversities   of  his  life  dee23ly  affected 


REFORMED    LANDS.  117 

him.  But  filially  God  called  him  from  his  asy- 
lum in  Neustadt  to  the  new  city  above,  the  heav- 
enly Jerusalem,  to  rest  from  his  labors.  He 
died  in  the  full  assurance  of  faith,  the  doctrine 
he  ^0  beautifully  emphasizes  in  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism.  He  was  a  modern  Thomas  A.  Kem- 
pis,  a  man  of  books  and  prayer.  I  understand 
there  is  this  inscri23tion  to  his  memory  on  his 
tomb  at  Neustadt :  "A  great  theologian,  a  victor 
over  the  errors  concerning  the  person  of  Christ 
and  the  Lord's  Supper,  peculiarly  gifted  with 
mighty  words  and  a  mighty  pen,  a  keen-sighted 
philosopher,  a  wise  man,  a  mighty  teacher  of  the 
youth."  I  asked  the  sexton  of  the  church  where 
his  tomb  was  to  be  found.  But  the  sexton  seemed 
as  ignorant  as  sextons  often  are.  I  carefully  ex- 
amine the  tombs  in  the  floor,  which  contain  in- 
scriptions to  the  dead.  But  the  church  was  dark 
and  many  of  the  tombs  were  covered  by  the 
benches,  so  I  finally  gave  it  up.  The  fact  is,  the 
church  was  so  often  ravaged  by  the  French,  and 
also  Avashed  by  freshets,  that  the  old  monuments 
were  destroyed  or  effliced.  So  I  go  into  the 
choir,  for  the  church,  like  the  church  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  at  Heidelberg,  has  a  division  wall 
in  it,  separating  the  choir  from  the  main  part  of 


118  EAMBLE8    KOUND 

the  church.  The  choir  is  given  to  the  Catholics 
and  the  nave  to  the  Protestants.  So  I  enter  the 
choir,  where  Ursinus  is  said  to  have  been  buried. 
But  I  could  find  no  inscription  to  his  memory. 
The  tawdry  ornaments  of  the  Catholic  altar  illy 
suited  the  place  where  their  opponent  Ursinus 
was  buried.  So  after  enjoying  the  quaint  old 
church,  but  failing  to  find  his  tomb,  I  bid  fare- 
well to  this  shrine  of  Ursinus. 

Another  interesting  and  yet  an  almost  unknown 
place  in  the  Palatinate  is  the  Abbey  of  Maul- 
bron  in  Germany,  south  of  Heidelberg.  Here 
there  was  a  great  disputation  in  1564  between 
the  Lutherans  of  Wurtemberg  and  the  Reformed 
of  Heidelberg  about  our  Heidelberg  catechism. 
Ursinus  and  Olevianus  were  the  leaders  in  de- 
fending our  catechism.  They  debated  for  six 
days,  and  when  these  were  ended,  they  were  as 
far  apart  as  ever  before,  both  sides  claiming  the 
victory.  I  conclude  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to 
this  Protestant  abbey.  After  a  railroad  ride  for 
two  hours,  I  find  myself  at  the  station  of  Maul- 
bron. 

But  where  is  the  Abbey  ?  I  am  landed  at  a 
station  out  in  the  woods.  I  might  as  well  be 
out  on  the  prairies   of  our  far  west   as   here. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  119 

There  is  no  building  but  the  station  and  the  sta- 
ble of  the  German  post-office.  I  ask  how  far  it 
is  to  the  Abbey.  About  a  mile.  As  my  time 
was  limited,  that  is  little  comfort ;  for  I  do  not 
know  how  to  get  there  and  back  in  time  for  the 
next  train.  Besides,  it  is  raining  hard,  and  my 
waterproof  and  overshoes  I  have  left  at  Heidel- 
berg. As  for  walking  through  the  high  grass 
and  forest  in  such  a  rain,  it  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Must  I  sit  at  this  station  for  two  hours 
until  the  next  train  comes  along  to  take  me 
away  ?  The  outlook  is  doleful.  My  next  thought 
is  to  get  a  carriage.  But  the  reply  is  that  there 
is  no  carriage  to  be  had  for  miles.  Can  I  get  a 
horse  ?  They  send  over  to  the  German  post,  to 
find  out  whether  they  would  loan  me  a  horse. 
But  the  German  post-office  is  a  vast  machine 
moved  by  red  tape ;  and  no  one,  especially  an 
American,  could  hire  one  of  their  horses. 

In  despair  I  am  about  settling  down  to  a  two 
hours'  penance  in  this  backwoods  station,  when 
a  pleasant  gentleman,  seeing  my  predicament, 
steps  up  to  me  and  says  :  "  I  think  the  rain  will 
stop  in  a  few  minutes.  The  sky  is  brightening 
now.  If  you  will  wait  a  few  moments,  I  will 
walk  with  you  to  Maulbron  over  a  fine  road, 


120  KAMBLES    ROUND 

and  there  we  can  get  you  a  carriage  to  bring 
you  back."  I  gladly  accept  the  kind  invitation^ 
and  find  him  to  be  the  attorney  of  the  little 
country  town  of  Maulbron.  He  is  very  obliging 
and  very  well  informed ;  so  that  the  long  walk 
to  the  iVbbey  is  not  tiresome,  because  whiled 
away  with  such  pleasant  conversation.  The 
road  was  a  fine  one,  and  it  soon  led  out  of  the 
woods  into  an  open  farming  country,  until  after 
a  three-quarters  of  an  hour's  walk  we  arrived  at 
Maulbron.  My  first  duty  on  arriving  there  is 
to  get  a  carriage  to  take  me  away.  There  are 
only  two  taverns  in  the  little  town  where  car- 
riages can  be  had.  I  go  to  the  first,  but  am  re- 
fused, because  (great  is  Germany  for  beer)  they 
say  the  horses  are  all  away,  taking  beer  to  Bret- 
ten.  I  turn  anxiously  to  the  other  tavern  for  a 
carriage.  Finally  the  lady  says  that  I  can  have 
a  carriage,  if  I  will  pay  the  price,  which  is 
rather  high.  Remembering  the  extortionate 
charges  of  American  hackmen,  I  ask  her  some- 
what anxiously  the  price.  You  can  imagine 
my  surprise,  when  she  said  that  the  whole  bill 
for  a  ride  of  six  miles  (or  double  that  for  my 
driver)  would  be  seventy-five  cents.  I  willingly 
agree  to  such  extortion ;  for  in  the  country  dis- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  121 

tricts  of  Germany  living  and  travelling  are  very 
cheap.  Having  arranged  to  get  away  to  Bret- 
ten,  in  time  to  meet  an  express  train  which  does 
not  stop  at  Manlbron,  I  now  turn  to  examine 
the  Abbey. 

The  whole  building  is  a  surprise.  What  a 
large,  capacious  abbey  this  is.  It  is  not  a  single 
buikling,  but  it  has  a  whole  village  included  with- 
in its  walls.  It  contains  twenty  or  twenty-five 
buildings  of  various  sizes,  besides  the  large  abbey 
church  and  its  cloisters.  It  covers  many  acres 
of  ground  ;  and  the  wonder  is  that  so  capacious 
an  abbey  has  not  attracted  more  attention  from 
travellers.  But  then  perhaps  most  travellers  had 
the  same  difficulty  in  getting  there  that  I  have 
had.  No  wonder  the  princes  and  the  clergy 
liked  to  come  liere  and  have  disputations,  for  it 
is  large  enough  to  house  and  feed  a  thousand 
men.  At  one  time  a  fort  as  well  as  an  abbey,  it 
is  now  used  as  a  training  school  for  the  Lutheran 
clergy  of  Wurtemberg.  I  enter  the  old  doorway 
and  find  myself  surrounded  by  buildings.  The 
old  sexton,  who  looks  almost  as  antiquated  as  the 
abbey,  opens  the  church  door  with  the  key.  I 
try  to  impress  on  him  the  fact  that  I  want  es- 
pecially to  see  everything  connected  with  the 
9 


122  RAMBLES    ROUND 

Conference  of  1564  about  the  Heidelberg  cate- 
chism. He  says  he  will  show  me  all.  But,  alas 
for  the  ignorance  of  church  sextons  in  Germany, 
as  well  as  in  America,  I  very  nearly  miss  just 
what  I  came  to  see.  The  front  of  the  church  is 
very  plain  and  old.  It  was  begun  in  the  twelfth 
century,  and  its  interior  contains  some  fine  wood 
carving.  From  the  church  he  takes  me  to  the 
cloisters.  They  are  very  capacious  and  large ; 
some  of  them  were  refectories,  where  the  monks 
used  to  spend  their  time  in  eating,  drinking  and 
making  merry.  He  shows  me  a  large  room 
(one  of  the  refectories) ,  where  the  conference  of 
1564  took  place ;  and  I,  in  blissful  ignorance, 
believe  him. 

Then  he  leads  me  out  of  the  cloisters  to  a  tower 
in  the  abbey  garden,  called  the  Faust  tower. 
This  tower  was  not  built  in  memory  of  Faust, 
the  inventor  of  printing,  but  it  was  the  place 
where  the  other  Faust  sold  himself  to  the  devil. 
The  story  is  a  typical  one.  Having  mastered  all 
the  secret  sciences,  and  become  dissatisfied  with 
the  shallowness  of  all  knowledge,  Faust  made  a 
bargain  with  Satan  that  the  devil  was  to  serve 
him  for  twenty-four  years,  and  then  Faust's  soul 
would  be  delivered  to  him  for  eternal  damnation. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  123 

Faust  revelled  in  all  sorts  of  sensual  enjoyments, 
the  devil  catering  new  joys  to  him.  As  the  end  of 
the  twenty-four  years  approached,  Faust  tried  to 
seek  salvation  from  the  priests,  but  they  fled  from 
him  as  a  reprobate — a  Judas  sold  to  the  devil. 
Finally,  the  tradition  has  it,  one  midnight  amid 
the  howling  storm,  unearthly  sounds  came  from 
his  tower,  and  the  next  morning  his  room  was 
found  empty  and  his  corj)se  mangled  in  a  most 
horrible  manner.  It  is  only  a  tradition,  but 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  it.  How  many 
men,  like  him,  have  sold  themselves  to  the  devil, 
to  rue  their  bargain  in  vain. 

But  I  am  hearing  a  good  deal  about  Faust  and 
Satan  from  my  guide,  and  nothing  about  Ole- 
vianus  and  Ursinus,  who  defended  the  Reformed 
doctrines  here.  I  am  more  interested  in  them 
than  in  his  Satanic  majesty.  So  I  leave  the  ab- 
bey and  am  about  taking  my  carriage,  when  I 
suddenly  discover  in  my  guidebook  that  the  sex- 
ton has  shown  me  the  wrong  room  in  the  abbey 
as  the  place  where  the  conference  of  1564  took 
place.  I  have  not  a  moment  to  loose,  but  I  must 
see  it  before  I  get  away.  I  hasten  back  to  the 
abbey  and  hurry  the  sexton  away  from  supper, 
and  make  him  take  me  to  the  upper  room  in  the 


124  RAMBLES    KOUND 

cloister  used  in  Winter  as  the  church.  He  has- 
tens to  show  me  a  plain  upper  room,  seating 
about  two  hundred  persons.  Here  the  confer- 
ence of  1564  took  place.  I  then  hurry  away  to 
my  carriage,  only  to  find  after  I  had  left  Maul- 
bron,  that  I  have  missed  another  interesting  relic 
of  that  disj^utation  through  the  sexton's  ignor- 
ance. My  guidebook  tells  me  that  the  two  bal- 
dachines  or  pulpit  coverings  under  which  Olevi- 
anus  and  Ursinus  spoke,  are  in  the  church,  and 
I  had  missed  seeing  them.  But  it  is  now  too  late 
to  go  back. 

The  whole  afternoon  has  been  a  comedy  of 
errors  to  me.  Faust's  was  a  tragedy,  but  mine 
a  comedy,  as  I  went  from  one  difficulty  to  an- 
other, from  one  mistake  to  another.  But  it  is  a 
rare  treat  to  visit  so  large  and  interesting  an 
abbey.  And  I  rode  away  to  Bretten  for  an  ex- 
press train,  only  to  get  unexpectedly  at  Bretten 
a  sight  of  Melanchthon's  statue  in  that  town  ; 
for  the  great  reformer  was  born  there. 

Neustadt  and  Maulbron  are  a  few  of  the  many 
interesting  places  of  the  Palatinate  around  Hei- 
delberg. There  are  many  others,  as  Kaiserlau- 
tern,  and  Manheim,  and  Zweibruecken.*  But  we 
forbear  and  hasten  down  the  Rhine  to  Frankford. 

*  Where  my  ancestors  came  from. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  125 


CHAPTER   X. 
Frankford. 

One  of  the  largest  cities  of  western  Germany 
is  Frankford.  It  spreads  itself  over  a  flat  plain 
along  the  Main  river.  It  was  a  free  city,  and, 
like  free  cities,  it  became  wealthy.  It  was  for 
centuries  the  seat  of  the  German  Diet,  and  there- 
fore a  sort  of  capital  to  Germany.  Here  most  of 
the  German  emperors  were  chosen ;  and  the 
"  Koemer-Hall,"  or  hall  of  the  Romans,  was  the 
place  where  the  emperors  were  elected. 

Frankford  is  noted  for  its  fine  streets  and 
buildings.  The  Art  Institute  contains  famous 
and  beautiful  paintings.  A  beautiful  palm  gar- 
den brings  the  equator  to  our  northern  zone. 
Frankford  is  also  famous  for  its  Jews,  or  rather 
its  Jews  have  made  Frankford  famous.  The 
Jews  were  allowed  to  settle  here,  although  other 
cities  and  lands  drove  them  out.  But  down  to 
1806  the  Jewish  quarter  was  closed  every  evening 
and  on  Sundays.  Still,  although  the  Jews  were 
kept  under  lock  and  key,  they  flourished,  and 


126  EAMBLES    ROUND 

the  famous  Rothschild  family  has  made  Frank- 
ford  and  its  Jews  famous  the  world  over. 

The  story  of  the  rise  of  this  family  is  interesting. 
Maier  Anselm  Rothschild  was  the  son  of  a  poor 
Jewish  family.  He,  however,  opened  a  banking- 
house  at  Frankford.  One  day  General  Estorff, 
who  noticed  Rothschild's  financial  genius,  recom- 
mended him  to  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse.  When 
he  arrived,  that  prince  was  about  being  badly 
beaten  at  chess  by  the  general.  "  Do  you  under- 
stand chess?"  asked  the  Landgrave.  "  Yes,  your 
highness."  "  Then  step  up  and  look  at  my  game." 
Rothschild  did  so  and  suggested  moves  that  made 
the  Landgrave  win.  That  game  of  chess  settled 
his  future.  He  who  had  managed  the  game  of 
chess  was  appointed  to  manage  the  Landgrave's 
fortune.  It  happened  that  the  Elector  fled  from 
Napoleon  in  1806.  But  before  leaving,  he  de- 
posited with  Rothschild  five  millions  of  dollars 
for  safe  keeping,  to  be  preserved  for  him  in  his 
time  of  danger.  The  Rothschilds  so  judiciously 
invested  this  that  it  became  the  basis  of  their 
colossal  fortune.  His  sons  became  the  heads  of 
leading  houses  in  the  capitals  of  Europe,  and  the 
family  is  now  worth  so  numy  millions  that  they 
virtually  rule  the  commercial  world.     There  used 


REFOKMED    LANDS.  127 

to  be  a  coiiundruin  current  in  Europe.  "  What 
is  the  difference  between  ancient  and  modern 
times  ?"  The  answer  was  that  in  ancient  times  all 
the  Jews  had  one  king ;  in  modern  times  all  the 
kings  have  one  Jew.  It  is  said  that  none  of  the 
great  empires  can  go  to  war  unless  the  Roths- 
childs are  willing  to  lend  them  the  money.  They 
are,  therefore,  the  uncrowned  kings  of  Europe. 
And  the  Rothschilds  owe  their  23resent  greatness 
to  the  honesty  of  their  ancestor,  to  whom  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse  entrusted  his  money  without 
any  security.  Honesty  is  always  the  best  policy 
for  Jews  and  Gentiles  alike. 

There  are  many  other  attractions  at  Frank - 
ford,  among  them  monuments  to  Gutenberg, 
the  inventor  of  printing,  and  to  Goethe.  But  the 
most  interesting  building  is  the  Roemer  Hall. 
It  is  situated  on  an  open  square  or  market  place, 
in  which  up  to  the  end  of  the  last  century  no  Jew 
was  allowed  to  appear.  The  Roemer  Hall  is  a 
Gothic  structure,  with  lofty  gables  and  pointed 
doorways.  In  it  is  the  Saloon  of  the  Emperors, 
a  large  hall  decorated  with  the  portraits  of  the 
emperors  from  Charlemagne  down  to  Ferdinand 
III.  Next  to  this  hall  is  a  room  decorated  in  red, 
called  the  election  room,  where  the  Electors,  the 


128  RAMBLES    KOUND 

leading  princes  of  Germany,    elected   their  em- 
peror. 

But  this  Roemer  Hall  is  interesting  not 
merely  for  its  political,  but  for  its  religious  his- 
tory. Frankford  is  intimately  connected  with 
the  religious  history  of  Germany,  and  on  more 
than  one  occasion  this  Koemer  Hall  figures  in  it. 
The  Reformation  was  introduced  into  Frankford 
early.  As  early  as  the  conference  at  Marburg 
in  1529,  between  Luther  and  Zwingii,  a  number 
of  the  Frankford  ministers,  like  Melander  and 
Ibach,  inclined  to  Zwingii  rather  than  to  Luther. 
By  and  by  Reformed  refugees  from  Holland, 
France  and  England  arrived,  as  early  as  1554. 
The  Lutherans  of  Frankford  at  first  gladly  re- 
ceived them,  and  gave  them  two  churches  in 
which  to  worshij) — the  White  Lady  and  All 
Baints  churches.  The  English  party  soon  became 
involved  in  a  controversy  between  high  church 
and  low^  church,  the  prophecy  of  the  future  con- 
troversies that  have  racked  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land for  centuries.  John  Knox  was  pastor  of 
this  English  church  for  a  while,  but  soon  re- 
signed. After  Knox  had  left,  another  of  the 
great  leaders  of  the  Reformed  Church  came  to 
Frankford  to  take  charge  of  the  Dutch  Church, 


REFORMED    LANDS.  129 

John  A.  Lasco.  But  Westphal  in  Hamburg  be- 
gan thundering  out  denunciations  against  Lasco 
as  a  heretic,  and  warning  the  Lutherans  of 
Frankford  against  him.  So  there  grew  up  a 
good  deal  of  opposition  to  Lasco  and  the  Re- 
formed. And  Calvin  came  all  the  way  from 
Geneva  to  try  and  heal  the  difficulty,  so  that  the 
Lutherans  would  allow  the  Reformed  to  remain. 
While  here,  Calvin,  the  uncrowned  king  of  the- 
ology, addressed  an  assembly  of  ministers  in  this 
Roemer  Hall.  He  was  "  the  noblest  Roman  of 
them  all."  Lasco  soon  left  and  the  Reformed  were 
soon  after  compelled  to  leave,  in  1572.  Quite  a 
number  of  them  went  to  the  neighboring  prov- 
ince of  Hanau,  whose  prince  was  Reformed, 
where  they  built  a  new  jDart  of  the  city,  also  a 
church  and  a  gymnasium.  Others  of  them  went 
to  Bockenheim  in  Hesse  to  attend  church. 

In  1661  those  who  still  lived  in  Frankford 
gained  permission  to  build  a  Reformed  church 
just  outside  of  the  gate  of  the  city,  but  even  this 
was  burned  down.  Finally  the  Reformed  were 
allowed  to  build  churches  again  in  Frank- 
ford, but  on  condition  that  these  churches  would 
have  no  steeples  and  would  look  like  ordinary 
houses,  so  as  not  to  attract  passers-by  into  them. 


130  RAMBLES    ROUND 

The  result  of  this  was  that  in  seeking  the  Ger- 
man Reformed  church  on  Sunday  morning,  I 
walk  past  it,  because  its  exterior  does  not  look 
at  all  like  a  church.  Its  services  are  impres- 
sive and  profitable.  Kev.  Dr.  Elilers,  the  pas- 
tor, ascends  the  pulpit,  and  after  a  hymn  and 
Scripture  reading  and  prayer,  preaches  a  j^lain, 
practical  sermon  on  "  hungering  and  thirsting 
after  righteousness."  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the 
singing  of  the  chorals  by  the  boys  in  the  gallery, 
whose  sweet  voices  lead  the  praises  of  the  congre- 
gation. As  I  am  leaving  the  church,  a  tall  gen- 
tleman who  looks  like  a  Westerner  from  our 
prairies,  asks  me  whether  I  am  not  an  American. 
(It  is  strange  how  Americans  know  each  other 
in  every  part  of  the  world.)  When  I  answer 
that  I  am,  he  says  he  was  born  in  Germany,  but 
left  that  land  in  1848  for  America.  He  has  now 
gone  back  to  see  the  little  country  town  in  which 
he  was  born.  "  But,"  says  he,  "  it  is  the  saddest 
pilgrimage  I  ever  made.  All  the  old  people 
that  I  knew,  have  died  off ;  and  the  young  peo- 
ple whom  I  knew,  have  grown  up  and  forgotten 
me.  I  came  away  with  a  heavy  heart,  to  seek  a 
sister  in   Frankford."     As  he  tells  me  of  the 


REFORMED    LANDS.  181 

changes  that  have  taken  place  since  he  left,  I 
can  not  help  thinking  of  the  lines  : 

"Change  and  decay  in  all  around  I  see, 
O  Thou  that  changest  not,  abide  with  me." 

Just  north  of  Frankford  is  a  very  interesting 
colony  of  Reformed  people.  They  are  descend- 
ants of  French  refugees  driven  out  of  France  in 
1689.  A  railroad  u]^  the  hills  leads  to  the  beau- 
tiful watering  place  of  Homberg,  whose  medicinal 
waters  lure  11,000  visitors  to  it  every  summer. 
Its  Kurhaus  is  beautifully  situated,  facing  the 
pleasure  grounds,  in  which  are  the  springs.  The 
castle  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Homberg  is 
situated  in  the  upper  end  of  the  town.  It  is  an 
antiquated  castle,  the  most  prominent  building 
being  the  White  Tower,  which  is  188  feet  high  ; 
and  rising  as  it  does  above  the  trees  of  the  mag- 
nificent parks  around  Homberg,  it  commands  a 
fine  view  southward  toward  Frankford.  Coun- 
try towns  and  villages  dot  the  hillsides  of  the 
Taunus  range,  and  to  one  of  them  we  bend  our 
way — to  the  town  of  Friedrichsdorf.  It  is  a 
ride  of  two  hours  over  smooth  roads,  often 
shaded  on  both  sides  by  overhanging  trees. 

The  history  of  this  colony  at  Friedrichsdorf 


132  RAMBLES    ROUND 

is  very  interesting ;  and  it  is  at  present  one  of 
the  most  unique  places  in  Europe.  When  King 
Louis  XIV.  of  Franca  revoked  the  Edict  of 
Nantes,  about  a  half  a  million  of  Frenchmen 
left  their  homes  and  land,  rather  than  give  up 
their  Reformed  faith.  Of  these,  60,000  found 
a  home  in  Germany.  Prominent  German  prin- 
ces, like  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  and  others, 
opened  their  lands  as  asylums  to  them.  As 
Frankford  was  so  near  the  French  border,  that 
city  received  and  aided  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  refugees,  who  traveled  through  it.  Now 
among  the  princes  who  opened  their  hearts  and 
lands  to  these  refugees,  was  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse  Romberg,  whose  capital  is  at  Homl)erg. 
Although  possessed  of  a  small  land,  he  was  a 
large-hearted  and  kind  prince.  He  received 
several  hundred  of  these  refugees  into  his  land 
and  assigned  them  to  two  villages,  one  of  which 
was  Friedrichsdorf.  Nor  did  his  liberality  end 
there.  They  not  merely  received  their  land, 
but  they  were  also  exempted  from  taxes  for  ten 
years,  and  were  allowed  to  manage  their  own 
colony,  elect  their  own  mayor,  pastor  and  school- 
teacher. The  result  has  been  that,  although 
this  colony  was  founded  two  hundred  years  ago, 


REFORMED    LANDS.  133 

it  is  still  French  to  this  day.  Although  sur- 
rounded by  Germans,  it  has  not  intermingled  or 
intermarried  with  them.  It  is  a  bit  of  France 
right  in  the  heart  of  Germany.  The  sexton 
who  shows  me  the  French  church  of  the  village, 
still  speaks  French.  He  takes  me  to  their 
church,  which,  like  the  French  churches,  is 
called  a  temple.  With  its  plain  communion  ta- 
ble in  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  its  bare  seats  and 
floors,  it  reminds  one  of  the  Protestant  churches 
of  France. 

These  French  colonists  clung  to  their  customs 
through  hundreds  of  years.  Although  educated 
in  the  schools  of  Germany,  they  still  remained 
French.  Indeed,  it  is  a  question  whether  you 
will  find  in  all  France  a  colony  like  this  one. 
In  France  the  language  has  changed  during  the 
past  200  years.  New  words  and  new  phrases 
have  come  into  use  ;  the  dialect  has  changed. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  find  in  France  a  town 
that  still  speaks  the  French  of  the  time  of  Louis 
XIV.  But  what  cannot  be  found  in  France,  is 
found  in  Germany.  These  people  of  Friedrichs- 
dorf  speak  the  French  of  200  years  ago.  This 
colony  is  a  literary  puzzle,  an  ethnological  curi- 
osity.    And  yet  while  they  are  French  in  Ian- 


134  RAMBLES    ROUND 

guage  and  custom,  they  are  German  in  sympa- 
thy. They  entered  loyally  the  German  army 
and  fought  against  the  land  that  drove  out  their 
fathers.  Indeed,  it  is  significant  that  eighty 
of  the  guard  of  Emperor  William  when  he  en- 
tered Paris,  were  descendants  of  the  Huguenots, 
whose  fathers  had  been  driven  out  of  France. 
The  German  Emperor  has  no  more  loyal  sub- 
jects than  these  Frenchmen,  whose  ancestors  his 
forefather  befriended.  And  while  France  has 
been  devastated  by  war  and  revolution  during 
the  past  two  centuries,  these  colonists  have  lived 
peaceably.  The  Reformed  faith,  for  which  they 
left  their  land,  they  have  been  j^rivileged  to  en- 
joy here.  The  colony  now  numbers  1,200  souls, 
but  is  gradually  becoming  German. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  135 


CHAPTEE    XI. 
Bayaria. 

Southern  Germany  is  mainly  Catholic,  north- 
ern Germany  mainly  Protestant.  But  there  are 
a  few  places  in  Catholic  Bavaria  interesting  to 
the  Beformed.  So  before  going  northward  from 
Frankford,  we  will  pause  to  visit  them.  After 
a  long  ride  on  a  rainy  day,  Be  v.  Dr.  Bomberger 
and  myself  arrived  on  Saturday  evening  at  the 
city  of  Augsburg. 

Augsburg  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  German 
cities,  dating  back  to  the  Boman  times.  It  used 
to  be  the  principal  centre  of  trade  between 
Europe  and  the  East,  before  the  passage  around 
the  Cape  of  Good  Ho23e  was  discovered.  .  And 
the  Fuggers,  merchant  princes,  owned  vessels  in 
all  known  seas  before  the  days  of  the  Beforma- 
tion.  Augsburg  is  still  a  large  and  wealthy  city 
of  50,000  people. 

The  next  morning  is  Sabbath.  The  German 
churches  begin  service  early,  generally  at  8  or 
9  o'clock,    A.    M.     My    companion   says   they 


136  EAMBLES    EOUND 

begin  8o  early  because  they  want  to  get  religion 
over  for  the  day  and  go  out  to  the  parks.  My 
own  impression  is  that  the  early  hour  of  service 
is  a  relic  of  Catholic  days,  when  they  had  mass 
early,  before  breakfast.  We  start  out  for  church. 
We  have  difficulty  in  finding  it,  as  the  houses 
are  built  close  up  around  it  and  the  entrance  is 
a  side  door  on  a  side  street.  It  is  a  Lutheran 
church.  The  minister  is  performing  the  altar 
service  at  a,  distant  part  of  the  room,  and  then, 
preceeded  by  the  sexton,  he  walks  to  the  pulpit. 
There  is  a  large  congregation,  but  the  sermon 
is  poor,  and  the  service  formal. 

Coming  out  of  the  church,  we  find  the  stores 
023en  on  the  main  streets.  Alas  for  the  Sab- 
bath in  Europe.  It  is  no  longer  a  holy  day, 
but  it  has  degenerated  into  a  holiday.  We  no- 
tice a  crowd  in  the  street  and  go  to  see  what  has 
drawn  them  together.  We  find  it  is  a  chicken 
and  rabbit  market,  and  this  on  Sunday.  As  we 
pass  by  there  later  in  the  day,  we  find  a  large 
crowd  gathered,  and  a  band  playing  at  a  street 
concert.  They  do  not  know  the  blessings  of 
the  American  Sabbath.  In  the  morning,  the 
more  piously  inclined  go  to  church.  But  by 
dinner  time  worshi])  and  business  are  over  ;  all 


KEFORMED    LANDS.  137 

go  visiting  or  to  the  parks  ;  and  the  latter  half 
of  the  day  is  given  to  social  dissipation.  From 
such  a  Sabbath  may  the  good  Lord  deliver  us  in 
America.  And  yet  these  foreigners  who  are 
coming  to  our  shores,  are  bringing  it  with  them. 
In  the  western  part  of  the  United  States  there 
is  no  Sabbath.  The  papers,  railroads,  base  ball 
clubs,  theatres  are  in  full  blast  on  Sunday. 
There  will  be  a  coming  eclipse  of  our  Sabbath, 
unless  we  stop  this  tendency  to  Sabbath  break- 
ing that  is  coming  in  on  us  like  a  flood.  Far 
better  would  it  be  for  us  to  show  the  stiff,  sturdy 
stuff  of  that  native  of  Belgium  who  had  been 
converted  from  Catholicism  to  Protestantism, 
and  who,  when  urged  by  his  employer  to  work 
on  Sunday,  answered :  "  I  am  yours  during  the 
week,  but  on  Sunday  I  belong  to  God  alone." 

But  I  am  wandering  from  Augsburg  to  Amer- 
ica. After  the  service  is  over,  we  pass  the  old 
Episcopal  palace  of  Augsburg,  where  the  bishop 
of  the  Catholic  Church  still  lives.  This  palace 
has  a  very  interesting  history.  It  is  of  interest 
to  all  Lutherans  the  world  over,  for  here  Me- 
lancthon  laid  before  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 
in  lO''30,  the  famous  Augsburg  Confession,  the 
symbol  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  That  diet  of 
10 


lo8  RAMBLE8    KOUND 

German  princes  in  1530  was  a  famous  one.  The 
pope  had  fuhninated  a  bull  against  Luther. 
And  now  it  w^as  a  question  whether  the  Emperor 
woukl  carry  out  that  bull  and  put  Luther  to 
death.  But  the  Protestants  were  very  bold.  Be- 
fore the  Emperor  arrived  at  the  city,  Landgrave 
Philip  of  Hesse  opened  the  Catholic  cathedral 
and  had  his  Prote»tant  minister  preach  there. 
Many  of  the  peoj^le  were  inclined  to  Zwingli 
rather  than  to  Luther.  Cellarius,  a  Zwing- 
lian,  preached  in  the  cathedral.  But  wdien  the 
Emperor  arrived,  he  stopped  these  manifesta- 
tions of  Protestantism.  Then  Melanchthon  pre- 
sented the  Augsburg  Confession  to  the  Emperor 
as  a  statement  of  Lutheran  doctrines.  The  Em- 
peror was  not  a  theologian,  and  so,  like  some 
people  in  our  Churches,  he  went  to  sleep  while 
this  confession  was  read  to  him.  The  Zwinglians 
or  Reformed,  finding  that  they  were  not  allowed 
to  sign  this  Augsburg  Confession,  presented  a 
confession  of  their  own  called  the '  tetrapolitana,' 
or  the  confession  of  the  four  cities,  because  four 
cities  signed  it.  This  was  the  first  Reformed 
confession  of  Germany. 

In  1555,  twenty-five  years  later,  the  Protest- 
ants had  the  control   of  the    German    Diet   at 


KEFORMED    LANDS.  139 

Augsburg  and  wrung,  from  the  unwilling  Em- 
peror, the  right  for  Lutherans  to  exist  in  Ger- 
many. In  1566,  eleven  years  later,  Frederick 
III.  of  the  Palatinate  wrung  from  the  Emperor 
the  right  of  the  Reformed  to  exist  in  Germany. 
This  was  a  great  event  for  our  Church.  The 
Emperor  and  the  German  princes  held  that 
Frederick  had  violated  the  law  of  the  Empire 
by  the  j^ublication  of  his  Heidelberg  Catechism. 
Tliey  combined  against  him,  and  so  threatened  to 
strangle  our  Reformed  faith  in  its  cradle.  Fred- 
erick's defense  was  memorable.  It  marked  an 
epoch  in  our  history.  When  the  Emperor  sum- 
moned him  to  come  into  the  council  of  the  Diet, 
he  came,  followed  by  his  son  Casimir,  the  latter 
bearing  the  Bible.  And  in  a  defense  as  elo- 
quent as  it  was  brave,  Frederick  revealed  him- 
self as  a  theologian  as  well  as  a  prince,  an  orator 
as  well  as  an  Elector,  The  Emperor  may  have 
gone  to  sleep  when  Melanchthon  read  his  Augs- 
burg Confession,  but  Frederick  woke  him  up  by 
his  defense.  Frederick  declared  he  was  willing 
to  give  up  his  Heidelberg  Catechism,  if  it  were 
shown  to  be  contrary  to  the  Bible.  And  as  for 
leaving  Lutheranism  (as  they  charged),  he  had 
signed  the  Augsburg  Confession  as  a  sign  of  his 


140  RAMBLES    HOUND     * 

adherance  to  it.  But  if  it  were  necessary,  lie 
would  be  willing  to  die  for  his  catechism  and 
his  faith.  His  eloquence  and  firmness  aston- 
ished the  Diet.  It  saved  the  Keformed  Church 
in  Germany,  for  the  Diet  tacitly  allowed  the  use 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  so  also  this  al- 
lowed the  Reformed  to  exist  there  as  well  as  the 
Lutherans.  Frederick's  defence  at  Augsburg  is 
on  a  par  with  Luther's  defense  at  Worms.  The 
remark  of  a  hostile  prince  after  his  defense  re- 
veals the  effect  of  his  address.  "  Why  trouble 
ye  this  man  ?  He  is  more  pious  than  all  of  us." 
Frederick's  was  a  noble  defence  by  a  nobleman. 
Another  place  in  Southern  Germany  well 
worth  a  visit  is  Erlangen.  This  place  is  inter- 
esting, because  to  it  a  colony  of  French  refugees 
fled  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  Margrave  of  Brandenburg-Baireutli,  Chris- 
tian Ernst,  was  a  Lutheran  ;  but  the  influence  of 
his  near  relative,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg, 
who  had  received  these  refugees,  led  him  to  open 
his  land  to  them.  A  thousand  refu2;ees  arrived. 
The  people  of  the  town  refused  to  have  these 
strangers  among  them,  especially  as  they  did  not 
have  the  same  faith  as  theirs.  80  the  Reformed 
for  their  faith  would  have  been  cast  out  by  the 


REFORMED    LANDS.  141 

people,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  friendship  of 
the  ruler.  He  ordered  them  to  build  up  the 
southern  end  of  Erlangen.  The  result  was  that 
•  these  industrious  colonists  soon  made  that  part  of 
Erlangen  the  most  beautiful  part.  The  French 
colonists  became  wealthy  and  influential.  And 
when  the  Palatinate  was  devastated  by  Louis 
XIV.,  Christian  Ernst  again  threw  open  his  land 
to  the  E-eformed  refugees,  who  came  in  number 
about  three  hundred.  These  Palatines  were  Ger- 
mans, and  so  there  were  two  Reformed  congrega- 
tions in  Erlangen,  a  French  and  a  German. 
They  worshipped  together  at  first,  but  finally 
se23arated.  So  there  are  now  two  churches  there, 
a  French  church  with  340,  and  a  German  church 
with  236  members.  The  pastor  of  the  French 
church  has  been  Prof.  Ebrard,  one  of  the  leading 
theologians  of  the  Reformed  Cliurch.  Erlangen 
is  the  seat  of  a  large  university  of  which  Prof. 
Frank  is  the  leading  theologian  (after  Dorner, 
the  leading  theologian  in  Germany).  In  this 
university  Prof.  Ebrard  was  a  professor,  one  of 
the  few  Reformed  professors  in  Germany. 

Dr.  Ebrard  was  a  typical  Huguenot.  He  was 
born  in  1818  at  Erlangen,  where  his  father  was 
pastor.     After  a  course  of  studies   at   Erlangen 


142  EAMBLES    ROUND 

and  Berlin,  he  was  called  to  the  University  of 
Zurich,  because  he  had  so  boldly  attacked  Straus' 
"  Life  of  Christ."  In  184(;  he'was  called  to  Er- 
langen  as  professor.  Then  in  1849  he  was  called 
to  Baden.  He  was  always  in  demand  to  defeat 
the  inroads  of  rationalism,  and  he  went  to  Baden 
to  meet  the  rationalism  of  Heidelberg  under 
Schenkel.  But  he  came  back  to  Erlangen  in 
1861,  and  was  made  pastor  of  the  French  Re- 
formed church  in  1875,  after  the  death  of  Prof. 
Herzog.  He  was  always  a  great  opponent  of  het- 
erodoxy, and  a  defender  of  the  Reformed  faith, 
although  on  some  points  he  was  influenced  by  the 
mediating  school  of  theology.  But  he  called 
himself  an  old  theologian  of  the  French  school 
of  Amyraut  of  the  seventeenth  century.  He  was 
a  genius,  for  he  was  a  poet  and  novelist  as  well  as 
a  theologian.  His  novels  are  mainly  historical. 
His  poetry  is  pleasing.  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  him  at  Marburg  and  found  him  genial 
and  very  bright  and  keen  in  his  conversation. 
His  death  leaves  unfilled  a  vacancy  in  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  Germany. 

But  there  is  another  city  in  southern  Germany 
of  exceeding  great  interest.  It  is  Nuremberg. 
Nuremberg  is  one  of  the  most    unique   cities  of 


REFORMED    LANDS.  143 

Europe.  Venice  for  its  canals,  Moscow  for  its 
varieties  of  color,  Nuremberg  for  its  mediaeval 
walls,  are  the  unique  cities  of  Europe.  The  pe- 
culiarity is  that  it  is  a  city  of  the  middle  ages, 
that  has  somehow  or  other  come  down  to  this 
nineteenth  century.  It  is  a  city  with  high  stone 
walls  and  surrounded  by  a  moat,  and  whose 
gates  you  enter  by  drawbridges.  Enter  the  city 
and  y<3u  find  yourself  in  narrow  streets  with  an- 
tique houses,  whose  gable  ends  face  the  street  and 
whose  roofs  slant  to  a  point,  and  are  so  long  com- 
ing to  a  2)oint  that  you  think  they  will  never  get 
there.  In  these  high  slanting  roofs  are  small 
windows  which  look  like  goblin's  eyes  peeping 
out;  whilst  the  fronts  of  the  houses  are  often  of 
the  finest  architecture,  indeed  sometimes  their 
exterior  is  adorned  by  fine  paintings.  The 
churches  are  black  with  age,  but  are  filled  with 
beautiful  paintings  and  sculpture.  The  houses 
all  display  artistic  taste. 

Indeed  Nuremberg  everywhere  shows  that  for 
centuries  she  has  been  a  city  of  culture  and  re- 
finement. Four  or  five  centuries  ago  she  was  one 
of  the  most  cultured  cities  of  Europe,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  wealthiest.  She  was  also  one  of  the 
most  progressive.     Watches,  for  instance,  were 


144  ,     RAMBLES    ROUXD 

first  made  here,  and  were  then  known  as  Nurem- 
berg eggs.  Such  a  city  soon  became  famous  in 
the  arts.  Albert  Durer  with  his  paintings,  Adam 
Krafft  with  his  sculpture,  Veit  Stoss  with  his 
wood  carving,  Vischer,  the  bronze  artist,  made 
Nuremburg  famous. 

Such  a  progressive  city  naturally  drifted  into 
the  Reformation.     Here  lived 

"  Hans  Sachs,  who  was  a  shoe- 
maker, and  a  poet  too." 

Hans  Sachs  by  his  songs  and  satires  did  almost 
as  much  as  Luther  to  arouse  the  common  people 
against  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  1523  he  pub- 
lished a  poem  called  "  The  Nightingale  of  Wit- 
tenburg."  It  describes  the  Cluirch  by  j^icturing 
a  flock  of  sheep  among  wolves  and  especially  ex- 
posed to  a  lion  (the  Pope  Leo) ,  who  had  craftily 
undertaken  to  defend  them.  Suddenly  they  hear 
the  clear  notes  of  a  nightingale  (Luther)  fore- 
telling the  day's  dawn,  and  the  sheep  who  follow 
this  voice  are  led  out  into  a  sunny  safe  meadow. 
This  being  her  history,  it  is  somewhat  signifi- 
cant that  in  Nuremberg  are  gathered  together  so 
many  instruments  of  the  inquisition.  I  saw  them 
in  the  museum  near  the  castle.     It  makes  one's 


REFORMED    LANDS.  145 

blood  run  cold  only  to  see  them.  There  was  the 
Virgin,  that  horrible  instrument  of  torture  in 
which  the  victim  was  placed,  and  as  it  closed  over 
him,  it  pierced  him  and  then  dropped  him  into  a 
well  to  be  cut  to  pieces  and  floated  away.  There 
was  also  a  rack  on  which  the  victim  was  laid  and 
his  body  j)ulled  apart.  Thumb-screws  were  there 
on  which  he  hung  by  his  thumbs,  and  the  cradle 
which  rocked  him  to  death.  Ah,  Rome  possessed 
the  refinement  of  cruelty.  These  are  the  terrible 
reminders  of  Rome's  power. 

Nuremberg  is  now  Protestant,  mainly  Luth- 
eran. There  is  one  Reformed  church  there.  For 
the  Reformed  or  Zwinglians  early  found  support- 
ers here.  Albert  Durer  always  held  to  the  Re- 
formed faith.  And  a  colony  of  Walloon  refu- 
gees, driven  out  of  Holland  by  the  Duke  of  Alva, 
found  an  asylum  here.  Their  descendants  still 
preserve  a  Reformed  church,  which  numbers  380 
members.  But  the  man  whose  memory  enshrines 
Nuremberg  is  Albert  Durer.  He  is  the  darling 
and  pride  of  the  German  people  in  his  varied  ex- 
cellencies, and  the  beauty  and  spirituality  of  his 
conceptions.  He  has  painted  many  more  famous 
paintings,  but  one  of  the  most  beautiful  stories  I 
have  ever  read  is  told  of  an  etching  by  him  en- 


146  EAMBLE8    ROUND 

titled  "  Folded  Hands."  When  a  young  man, 
he,  with  a  very  dear  com2:>anion,  Franz  Knig- 
stein,  were  stndying  painting  together  nnder 
Wolgemuth.  As  the  years  rolled  by,  their 
friendship  deepened.  Bnt  Franz  did  not  sncceed, 
while  Durer  became  famous.  Albert  feared  Franz 
would  never  succeed,  so  they  planned  together  to 
make  an  etching  of  the  Passion.  But  when  they 
both  brought  their  pictures,  Franz's  was  cold  and 
lifeless,  whilst  Albert's  was  full  of  beauty.  Then 
for  the  first  time  Franz  saw  his  failure  as  an  ar- 
tist. Half  of  his  life  was  wasted  in  an  art  at 
which  he  could  never  succeed.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, murmur.  Only  for  a  moment  did  the  j)as- 
«ion  of  disappointment  go  over  him.  He  buried 
his  face  in  his  clasped  hands  and  prayed  :  "  The 
good  Lord  gave  me  no  gift  as  this,  but  he  has 
something  yet  for  me  to  do — some  homely  work 
shall  be  found  for  me.  I  was  blind  so  long.  Be 
you  the  artist  of  Nuremburg,  and  I" — 

"  O,  Franz,  be  quiet  for  a  moment,"  said  Albert, 
as  he  made  a  quick  rush  for  the  paper  on  the  ta- 
ble. A  few  lines  on  the  paper  by  Albert's  swift 
pencil ;  Franz,  as  he  waited  with  folded  hands, 
thought  Albert  was  adding  another  stroke  to  the 
Passion.     But  the  next  day  Albert  showed  him 


REFORMED    LANDS.  147 

the  sheet.  "  Why,"  said  Franz,  as  he  looked  at 
it,  "  those  are  my  hands,  where  did  you  get  them?" 
"I  took  them,"  said  Albert,  "as  you  were  making 
the  sad  surrender  of  your  life  so  very  bravely,  and 
I  murmured  to  myself,  '  Those  hands  that  may 
never  paint  a  picture,  must  certainly  make  one. 
I  have  faith  in  those  folded  hands,  my  brother 
friend.  They  will  go  to  men's  hearts  in  the  years 
to  come.'  " 

The  prophecy  came  true.  Those  "  folded 
hands"  have  become  famous.  The  picture  is  now 
in  Vienna.  But  Franz  never  appeared  so  beau- 
tiful, so  noble  as  when  he  folded  his  hands,  re- 
signed to  God's  will.  And  Albert  never  did  a 
nobler  deed  than  embalm  this  scene.  Blessed  is 
the  soul  that  in  some  moment  of  Gethsemane,  can 
utter  with  folded  hands  the  Master's  prayer,  "  Not 
my  will,  but  thine,  be  done."  And  Albert  Durer 
is  preaching  a  picture  sermon  to  future  ages  by 
this  picture  and  by  his  art. 


148  RAMBLES    ROUND 


CHAPTER    XI  I. 

Marbiirg  and  Herborn. 

Two  towns  north  of  Frankford  attract  our  no- 
tice. Both  are  interesting  from  their  association 
with  our  history.  I  first  visit  Marburg,  situated 
about  seventy  miles  from  Frankford.  It  lies 
in  a  small  valley  of  the  Lahn,  surrounded  by 
green  woody  hills  ;  while  it  in  turn  surrounds,  in 
the  shape  of  a  semi-circle,  the  precipitous  hill  on 
which  the  castle  stands.  It  is  a  beautiful  country 
university  town,  a  quiet  cultured  place.  The 
prominent  building  in  it  is  the  church  of  St.  Eliz- 
abeth, whose  twin  towers  rise  in  beauty  above  the 
roofs  of  the  houses.  The  story  of  the  Holy  Eliz- 
abeth is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Romish 
legends.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  King  of 
Hungary,  and  lived  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
Married  at  fourteen,  she  soon  developed  the  rigid 
piety  that  distinguished  her.  Her  husband  dying 
in  the  crusades,  she,  with  her  three  children,  was 
turned  out  of  their  home  without  money,  provis- 
ion or  change  of  clothing.     After  a  season  of  utter 


EEFORMED    LANDS.  149 

destitution,  her  son  was  finally  acknowledged  as 
the  prince  of  the  land.  Then  it  was  that  she  gave 
herself  up  to  minister  to  charity.  She  wore  be- 
neath her  garment  the  hair  cloth  of  St.  Francis, 
devoted  herself  to  the  poor,  ministered  to  loath- 
some diseases,  even  taking  lepers  into  her  home. 
She  died  at  Marburg,  was  buried  in  the  odor  of 
sanctity  in  this  church  which  bears  her  name, 
and  was  sainted  by  the  pope  four  years  afterward. 
This  church  of  St.  Elizabeth  is  a  fine  illustration 
of  the  early  Gothic  architecture,  in  its  simplicity, 
and  yet  impressiveness.  When  Marburg  became 
Protestant,  the  Landgrave,  to  stop  the  pilgrim- 
ages of  those  who  worshipped  her,  removed  the 
bones  of  the  saint  and  had  them  buried  in  an  un- 
known place. 

One  of  the  first  preachers  of  Protestantism  in 
Marburg  was  Limburg,  the  Franciscan  friar,  who 
was  thrown  into  prison  for  preaching  it.  It  hap- 
pened that  in  his  prison  there  was  an  ojDcn  win- 
dow. He  2^i"eached  the  Gospel  through  this  win- 
dow. When  the  Catholics  heard  of  the  myster- 
ious gatherings  under  his  window  at  night,  they 
removed  him  to  an  inner  dungeon,  where  he  was 
chained  to  a  crucifix.  He  was  spirited  away  one 
night,  and  probably  died  in  some  dungeon  as  a 
martyr  for  the  truth. 


150  RAMBLES    KOUXD 

But  the  most  important  event  that  took  phice  at 
Marburg  was  the  Conference  held  there  between 
Luther  andZwingli  in  1521*.  Landgrave  PhiHp 
of  Hesse,  one  of  the  keenest  statesmen  of  his  day, 
looking  from  a  political  standpoint,  and  seeing 
the  danger  that  came  from  divisions  among  Prot- 
estants, concocted  the  idea  of  uniting  all  the  Prot- 
estants against  the  Romish  Church.  So  he  ar- 
ranged a  conference  between  the  leaders  of  its 
leaders,  hoping  it  would  bring  them  together. 
Luther  at  first  was  very  unwilling  to  come.  He 
did  not  believe  in  fraternizing  with  heretics,  such 
as  he  felt  Zwingli  to  be.  But  finally,  at  the  com- 
mand of  his  i^rince,  he  came  to  the  Conference. 
Still,  all  the  way  up  the  castle  steps,  tradition  has 
it,  he  said  at  each  step  to  strengthen  himself, 
"  This  is  my  body,  this  is  my  body."  Zwingli, 
having  greater  dangers  and  distance  than  Luther, 
came  with  Ecolampadius  down  the  Rhine  through 
Strasburg.  So  the  leaders  of  the  Lutheran  and 
Reformed  Churches  met  here  October  1st,  1529. 
The  castle  in  which  they  met  was  a  commodious 
one  and  the  Landgrave  wisely  arranged  that  the 
Reformers  should  pair  off  in  j^rivate  conference 
before  the  public  meeting.  So  Ecolampadius  and 
Luther,  and  Melanchthon  and  Zwingli,  met  pri- 
vately. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  151 

On  the  next  day,  Saturday,  October  2nd,  the 
public  Conference  was  held.  It  was  a  memora- 
ble occasion.  The  eyes  of  the  Christian  world 
were  fixed  on  this  little  town  of  Marburg,  to  see 
whether  the  Protestants  would  unite.  Luther^ 
to  strengthen  himself,  wrote  on  the  velvet  of  the 
table  in  chalk,  "  This  is  my  body."  Zwingli 
quoted  Biblical  passages  to  show  that  these  words 
were  not  meant  literally,  but  figuratively.  But 
they  could  not  agree.  The  next  day,  the  Sab- 
bath, the  English  plague  broke  out  in  the  crowded 
town  and  shortened  the  Conference.  Again  the 
Landgrave  brought  them  together,  hoping  to 
unite  them.  Zwingli  was  ready  to  unite,  and 
reached  forth  his  hand  to  Luther.  But  Luther 
refused  it,  saying  :  "  You  have  another  spirit." 
Finally  Luther  drew  up  the  Marburg  Articles  of 
Faith,  to  which  they  all  agreed  except  the  ar- 
ticle on  the  sacraments.  In  this  article,  while 
they  agreed  to  differ,  they  yet  compromised  with 
a  statement,  and  so  the  Conference  broke  up.  A 
great  ojDportunity  was  missed  then.  The  leaders 
separated  for  their  homes,  and  the  two  Churches 
are  not  united. 

As  I  walk  around  the  castle,  I  find  the  knight's 
room,  a  beautiful  Gothic  structure  in  which  they 


152  RAMBLES    EOUND 

say  this  Conference  took  place.  But  this  is  not 
probable,  as  this  part  was  not  built  until  later. 
The  Conference  was  held  in  a  room  opposite  the 
sleeping  apartments  of  the  Landgrave  in  the  east 
wing  of  the  castle.  But,  although  I  do  not  find 
the  exact  room  in  which  this  Conference  took 
place,  I  find  a  most  choice  collection  of  letters 
and  autographs  in  this  knight's  room.  There, 
by  a  peculiar  fitness,  I  see  one  of  the  two  copies 
of  the  Marburg  articles  in  existence,  signed  by  all 
the  Reformers,  both  Lutheran  and  Reformed. 
There  is  the  protest  of  Spires,  signed  by  Protes- 
tant nobles.  There,  too,  is  the  letter  of  Melanch- 
thon  acquiescing  in  Landgrave's  Philip's  bigamy ; 
also  other  historic  documents. 

Going  down  from  the  castle,  I  pass  the  old  Lu- 
theran church,  where,  seventy-five  years  after  the 
conference,  occurred  a  riot  against  the  Reformed. 
During  all  that  time  Hesse  remained  Lutheran, 
but  moderately  so.  It  did  not  sympathize  with 
the  high  Lutherans  of  northern  Germany.  So 
Landgrave  Maurice  went  over  to  the  Reformed, 
and  undertook  to  introduce  the  Reformed  customs 
into  his  land.  He  attempted  to  do  so  at  Mar- 
burg, which  occasioned  this  riot.  Here  one  morn- 
ing in  1G05  the  people  in    the    church    rose   up 


EEFORMED    LANDS.  153 

against  the  Reformed  ministers.  They  put  them 
out  of  the  church.  One  of  them  was  thrown  out 
of  the  door.  One  of  them  tried  to  get  into  the 
parsonage,  but  the  late  preacher's  wife  kept  him 
out,  and  he  fled  through  the  streets,  now  pursued 
by  a  woman  with  a  washing  beetle,  and  now  by 
a  laborer  with  a  flail.  But  the  Landgrave  soon 
appeared  and  quelled  the  disturbance.  And  Lu- 
theran Marburg  has  a  Reformed  church  to-day. 
But  I  am  in  this  historic  city  not  merely  to  re- 
call the  Conference  of  Luther  and  Zwingli,  but 
to  be  present  at  a  Conference  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  instead  of  the  sixteenth.  An  effort  is 
being  made  to  bring  the  scattered  Reformed  con- 
gregations of  Germany  together.  As  each  prince 
organized  his  Church  in  his  own  land,  there  have 
always  been  many  different  Reformed  churches 
scattered  all  over  the  empire.  Many  have  been 
swallowed  up  by  the  Union  in  1817.  Some  oth- 
ers are  held  by  rationalistic  pastors.  Some  are 
dying,  some  are  dead.  To  "  strengthen  the  things 
that  remain"  is  the  object  of  this  Conference. 
They  meet,  like  the  Conference  350  years  ago,  to 
show  their  willingness  for  union,  but  at  the  same 
time  to  emphasize  the  Reformed  principles.  As 
I  step  out  of  the  ears,  a  strong  voice  saluted 
11 


154  rvA:\[BLES  eouxd 

me  in  English,  saying :  "  I  am  glad  there  is  one 
civilized  man  here."  Surprised  that  any  one 
in  that  German  town  speaks  to  me  in  English,  I 
am  pleased  to  find  that  the  speaker  is  Rev.  Dr. 
Matthews,  Secretary  of  the  Alliance  of  the  Pres- 
byterian and  Reformed  Churches.  He  says  :  "  I 
have  been  riding  with  a  number  of  ministers  to 
this  Conference,  but  as  they  don't  sjDcak  English, 
I  am  helpless  in  their  company.  Now,"  he  says, 
*'  I  am  glad  to  find  one  so  civilized  that  he  can 
talk  English."  I  thank  him  for  considering  me 
civilized.  He  proves  a  most  genial  and  profitable 
companion.  But  his  coach  is  off  for  one  hotel 
and  mine  to  another.  After  supper  I  start  out 
to  find  the  Reformed  Conference,  which  I  under- 
stand is  to  be  held  in  the  aula  or  hall  of  the  uni- 
versity. After  awhile  I  find  the  university,  and 
ask  every  one  I  meet  in  it,  where  the  Reformed 
Conference  meets.  Nobody  seems  to  know. 
They  seem  to  know  less  about  the  Conference  than 
strangers  do.  They,  however,  tell  me  that  the 
buildings  of  the  university  are  scattered  all  over 
the  town.  So  I  start  out  again  to  find  the  place. 
Again  I  am  disappointed,  for  I  am  told  to  go  back 
to  the  first  building.  In  despair  I  start  back  to 
the  hotel,  when  I  see  crossing  my  street  at  a  dis- 


KEFOllMED    LAXD«.  155 

tance  some  ministers  with  silk  hats  on  their  heads, 
such  as  the  German  clergy  often  wear.  I  con- 
clude to  follow  them.  They  finally  turn  aside 
into  a  low,  long  building.  I  enter,  and,  sure 
enough,  it  is  the  aula  of  the  university  I  am  seek- 
ing. About  a  hundred  ministers  and  laymen 
gather  and  take  seats  around  the  small  hall.  Dr. 
Matthews  presents  the  salutations  of  the  Re- 
formed Alliance ;  and  I,  at  the  request  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Bausman,  present  the  salutations  of  our  Gen- 
eral Synod.  Next  morning  I  attend  the  old  Re- 
formed church  to  hear  Prof.  Ebrard  preach.  His 
text  is  Isaiah  05  :  8,  "  Destroy  it  not,  for  a  bless- 
ing is  in  it."  He  preached  an  able,  scholarly 
sermon  on  the  history  of  our  Reformed  Church. 
After  the  church  service,  we  adjourn  to  the  hall 
again,  where  they  discuss  the  constitution.  There 
are  a  few  liberals  in  the  body,  but  the  evangeli- 
cal majority  by  vote  make  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism the  symbol  of  the  Bund  or  Alliance.  An 
evening  session  was  held,  when  Rev.  Dr.  Dalton, 
(5f  St.  Petersburg,  spoke  of  Russia ;  and  also  a 
morning  session,  when  various  matters  were  dis- 
cussed. I  am  requested  to  speak  on  the  emi- 
grants to  America.  I  go  forward  to  speak,  as  I 
suppose,  in  English.     But  I  find  my  interpreter 


156  E AMBLES    HOUND 

of  the  day  before  has  gone  away,  so  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment  I  am  compelled  to  sj^eak  in  Ger- 
man, which,  I  fear,  sounded  to  them  very  much 
like  pigeon  English  does  to  us.  However  they 
listened  attentively  (as  probably  they  had  to  do, 
in  order  to  understand  me  at  all),  and  seemed  very 
glad  to  hear  about  their  brethren  in  America. 

This  Reformed  Conference  has  held  two  meet- 
ings since  1884 — one  at  Elberfeld  in  1885,  and 
another  at  Detmold  in  1887.  This  year  (1889) 
it  meets  at  Bentheim.  There  are  about  Is  mill- 
ions of  Reformed  people  and  about  800  congre- 
gations in  Germany.  The  aim  of  this  Alliance, 
founded  at  Marburg,  is  to  draw  them  together. 
This  it  is  gradually  doing.  The  Reformed  con- 
sciousness is  becoming  more  pronounced.  Large 
Synods  are  entering  this  Alliance.  Indeed  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  it  will  prove  to  be  the  germ 
of  a  General  Synod  for  the  Reformed  Church 
of  Germany.  Certainly  something  must  be  done, 
or  the  scattered  Reformed  churches  will  go  to 
pieces  or  be  swallowed  up. 

The  outlook  is  encouraging.  A  new  church 
has  been  built  at  Osnabrueck.  Several  churches 
have  been  helped  by  mission  money.  Efforts  are 
being  made  to  found  a    Reformed  seminary    in 


REFORMED    LANDS.  157 

Germany.  These  movements  will  take  time  to 
perfect,  but  they  reveal  an  onward  progress. 

But  there  is  another  town  not  very  far  away 
from  Marburg,  and  south-west  of  it.  It  is  a  little 
country  town,  situated  in  a  winding  valley  l)eau- 
tifully  variegated  by  woods  and  fields.  Like 
Marburg,  it  was  once  a  university  town.  It  is 
the  little  town  of  Herborn.  As  I  enter  it,  I  re- 
alize that  I  have  gotten  into  a  forgotten  part  of 
Germany.  The  place  is  so  seldom  visited  by  a 
stranger,  especially  by  an  American,  that  he  is  a 
curiosity.  I  had  people  follow  me  in  the  street 
because  I  was  a  stranger.  In  some  parts  of  China 
where  an  American  is  a  curiosity,  they  follow  him 
because  the  whiteness  of  his  com^^lexion  makes 
them  say  he  is  made  of  chalk.  But  the  good 
people  of  Herborn  look  at  me  with  kindly  curi- 
osity, to  see  what  a  stranger  from  over  the  sea 
would  find  of  interest  in  this  out-of-the-way,  an- 
tiquated town. 

Herborn  is  interesting,  because  it  is  the  place 
where  Olevianus,  one  of  the  authors  of  our  cate- 
chism, is  buried.  When  the  Reformed  were 
driven  out  of  Heidelberg  by  Elector  Lewis,  the 
Count  of  Nassau-Dillenberg  invited  Olevianus 
to  come  and  found  a   university  in   his   little 


158  RAMBLES    ROUND 

county.  Olevianus  introduced  the  Reformed 
faith  and  customs  into  this  little  county  of  Nas- 
sau, and  then  founded  the  university.  Not 
every  prince  is  so  enlightened  and  public-spirited 
as  to  give  away  a  castle  to  be  used  for  a  school. 
But  this  Count  had  a  castle  here  which  he  did 
not  need ;  so  he  gave  it  to  the  university  which 
was  founded  here  on  July  10, 1584.  The  school 
grew.  Like  its  sister  university  at  Neustadt, 
where  Ursinus  was  the  attraction,  this  school 
flourished  under  Olevianus,  even  outrivaling 
Heidelberg.  The  little  town  had  more  students 
than  it  knew  well  how  to  take  care  of. 

This  university  was  most  i^rosperous  until  the 
opening  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  It  continued 
in  existence  until  it  was  disbanded  by  the  Ger- 
man government  in  1817.  But  it  was  for  two 
hundred  years  a  blessing  to  the  Reformed 
Church.  Many  of  the  early  ministers  who  came 
to  our  land  and  founded  our  Church  in  the 
United  States,  came  from  this  university.  The 
six  students  that  Rev.  Mr.  Schlatter  influenced 
to  come  to  America,  were  from  this  school,  as 
Otterbeiii,  Stoy  and  Waldschmidt.  So  this  uni- 
versity is  peculiarly  interesting  to  us. 

But  the  particular  event  that  makes  this  place 


REFORMED    LANDS.  159 

sacred  to  Reformed  people,  is  that  it  was  the 
death-place  of  Olevianus.  His  death-bed  was  a 
glorious  one.  A  few  days  before  he  died,  he 
said  :  ''  Yesterday  I  was  filled  for  more  than  an 
hour  with  inexpressible  joy.  It  seemed  to  me 
as  if  I  walked  on  a  splendid  meadow  ;  and  while 
I  went  round  it,  heavenly  dew  fell  not  in  drops, 
but  in  streams."  Prof.  Alsted  asked  as  he  sank 
in  death  :  "  My  brother,  are  you  without  doubt 
about  your  salvation,  as  you  taught  to  others  ?" 
He  answered :  "I  am  most  certain,"  and  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus,  rejoicing  in  the  comfort  in  life 
and  death  of  which  he  spoke  in  the  Heidelberg- 
Catechism. 

I  go  into  the  quaint  old  parish  church,  to  find 
his  tomb.  Around  the  choir  I  find  a  number  of 
iron  slabs  placed  in  memory  of  the  professors 
of  the  university.  The  slab  of  Olevianus  is 
cracked  and  a  corner  is  broken  off.  From  the 
church  I  go  to  the  old  university  building.  It 
is  now  used  as  a  seminary  for  the  training  of 
young  ministers  of  the  province  of  Nassau.  It 
has  two  professors.  But  there  are  not  many 
students,  as  the  needs  of  this  province  are  small. 

This  whole  county  of  Nassau  was  originally 
Reformed.     But  since  the  Union  it  seems  as  if 


160  RAMBLES    ROUND 

they  had  tried  to  forget  that  they  were  ever  Re- 
formed. Nevertheless,  the  Reformed  people  of 
our  Church  in  America  have  not  forgotten  that 
this  place  is  the  shrine  of  Olevianus,  for  they 
have  placed  a  monument  in  his  memory  costing- 
several  hundred  dollars.  This  was  dedicated 
in  1888  by  Prof.  Maurer,  of  Herborn,  and  Rev. 
Dr.  Calaminus,  representing  the  Reformed 
Union  of  Germany.  Under  the  inscription  are 
the  words,  taken  from  the  first  answer  of  our 
Heidelberg  Catechism  :  "  Christ  our  only  com- 
fort in  life  and  death." 


REFORMED    LANDS.  161 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  Rhine. 

The  Rhine,  the  Rhine,  the  beautiful  Rhine ! 
Most  beautiful,  picturesque  river  in  Europe, 
calmly  flowing  toward  the  sea,  its  sides  are  cov- 
ered with  vineyards  and  castled  crags.  These, 
with  the  legends  connected  with  them,  make  the 
Rhineland  very  weird  and  romantic.  While 
the  Rhine  has  not  the  grandeur  of  our  Hudson, 
it  is  yet  more  picturesque  and  romantic.  To  us 
the  Rhine  is  interesting,  because  the  Rhineland 
was  largely  Reformed.  From  Switzerland,  where 
it  rises,  down  past  Basle,  Strasburg  and  Heidel- 
berg to  Duesseldorf,  many  Reformed  churches 
and  cities  are  found.  The  Reformed  Church 
was  strongest  in  the  western  part  of  Germany, 
where  this  river  flows.  Some  one  has  beautifully 
suggested  that  the  course  of  the  Rhine  is  a  type 
of  the  progress  of  our  Church.  Our  Church 
sprang  into  existence  near  where  the  Rhine  rises, 
in  Switzerland.  It  followed  the  course  of  the 
Rhine  until  it  reached  Holland,  where   it  flows 


162  RAMBLES    ROUND 

into  the  sea.  The  Catholics  burned  Zwingli's 
body  near  Lucerne.  But  his  ashes,  wafted  down 
the  Rhine,  proved  that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs 
is  the  seed  of  the  Church,  as  his  doctrines  spread 
all  along  this  river.  Of  course,  since  his  day 
many  changes  have  come  over  this  western  region, 
and  the  Reformed  Church  is  not  as  strong  as  be- 
fore her  wars  and  j^ersecutions  along  the  Rhine. 
But  still  her  customs  and  traditions  hang  over 
this  River.  It  is  a  strange  tact  that,  in  a  general 
way,  the  Reformed  Church  of  Europe  may  be  said 
to  be  the  Church  of  the  mountains  and  rivers ; 
the  Lutheran  the  Church  of  the  plains. 

Bingen  is  the  beginning  of  the  finest  scenery 
of  the  Rhine.  There  the  famous  Mouse  Tower 
stands  in  the  middle  of  the  Rhine  river  as  the 
gateway  to  the  Rhine,  This  tower  was  originally 
a  lighthouse,  to  guide  sailors  around  a  dangerous 
curve  in  the  river.  But  as  legends,  like  ivy, 
cling  to  everything  in  the  Rhine,  this,  too,  has  its 
legend.  The  legend  has  it  that  the  cruel  arch- 
bishop Hatto,  of  Mayence,  having  caused  a  num- 
ber of  poor  people  (whom  he  compared  to  mice)  to 
be  burnt  in  a  barn  during  a  famine,  the  mice  re- 
sented the  comj^arison  and  the  cruelty,  and  fol- 
lowed him  day  and  night  until  he  took  refuge  in 


REFORMED    LANDS.  163 

this  tower  in  the  river.  But  they  boldly  swam 
the  river  in  such  numbers  as  to  devour  him  alive. 

Going  still  farther  down  the  Rhine,  one  is  sur- 
rounded by  steep,  vine-clad  hills  and  ruined  cas- 
tles covered  with  ivy.  We  pass  the  Rheinstein, 
a  picturesque  castle,  262  feet  above  the  river.  It 
also  has  its  legend,  that  a  knight  of  the  thirteenth 
century  had  a  beautiful  daughter  with  many  suit- 
ors. He  finally  offered  her  hand  to  the  one  who 
gained  the  prize  at  a  tournament — Kurt,  who 
cruelly  vanquished  Kuno,  whom  the  beautiful 
princess  Gerda  loved.  But  Gerda  on  the  day  of 
her  marriage  ran  away  from  the  bridal  proces- 
sion on  her  horse,  had  him  swim  the  Rhine,  and 
escaped  to  Kuno's  castle ;  while  Kurt,  in  pursu- 
ing, fell  from  his  horse  and  broke  his  skull.  And 
so  everything  ended  haj^pily  to  the  lovers. 

Passing  still  further  down,  we  come  to  the 
most  romantic  part  of  the  Rhine.  Here  on  the 
Lurlei  rock  in  mid-river,  the  legend  says,  there 
used  to  appear  a  beautiful  fairy.  She  was  kind 
to  the  good,  but  cruel  to  the  wicked,  causing 
those  who  dared  to  climb  her  rock,  to  loose 
themselves  and  die.  It  happened  that  a  young 
Palatinate  prince  became  enamored  with  this 
fairy.     He  was  held  by  the  magic  cord  of  love, 


164  RAMBLES    ROUND 

and  again  and  again  visited  the  fated  place. 
His  father,  seeing  his  love  and  danger,  ordered 
him  away  from  home.  On  the  night  before  his 
departure  he  went  down  to  the  river  for  the  last 
time.  As  he,  from  his  boat,  serenaded  her,  she 
rose  from  the  water  ;  and  he,  overpowered  by  love, 
threw  himself  into  the  waves  and  was  lost  for- 
ever. The  legend  has  it  that  even  though  the 
fairy  disappeared  then,  yet  the  listening  sailor 
can  still  at  times  hear  the  song  of  her  siren  voice 
from  her  crystal  castle  in  the  river  bottom.  The 
Rhine  is  as  full  of  such  legends  as  it  is  of  water, 
and  they  are  as  romantic  as  the  hills  that  sur- 
round it. 

But  having  passed  through  the  most  lovely 
scenery  of  the  river,  we  arrive  at  Coblentz,  a  city 
of  30,000  inhabitants,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  at  its  junction  with  the  Moselle.  It  is  a 
great  railway  centre  at  present.  Its  promenade, 
extending  for  more  than  a  mile  along  the  river 
bank,  and  shaded  with  trees,  brings  together  a 
beautiful  combination  of  park  and  river  scenery. 

Just  opposite  Coblentz  is  the  almost  impreg- 
nable fortress  of  Ehrenbreitsteiu.  This  solitary 
hill  rises  almost  400  feet  above  the  river,  and  is 
inaccessible  on  three  sides,  while  the  fourth  is  so 


REFORMED    LANDS.        '  165 

strongly  fortified  as  to  be  almost  unconquerable. 
There  is  nothing  romantic  about  this  fort  on  the 
Rhine  ;  it  is  a  stern  reality.  In  going  up  to  the 
hill  top,  I  passed  no  less  than  five  gateways  mark- 
ing different  walls  of  fortifications  along  the  hill 
side.  This  fortress  is  the  key  to  the  Rhine  and 
to  western  Germany,  and  is  well  garrisoned.  As 
long  as  Germany  watches  France  with  lynx-like 
eyes,  this  fort  will  be  kept  strongly  garrisoned. 

Passing  down  the  Rhine,  the  scenery  is  un- 
interesting until  above  Cologne,  when  Roland's 
Arch  and  the  Drachenfels  come  in  sight.  Ro- 
land's Arch  is  the  ruin  of  an  old  castle  on  the 
west  hillside  of  the  Rhine,  which  of  course  has 
its  traditional  legend.  The  legend  is,  that  Ro- 
land, the  knight  of  the  castle,  fell  desperately  in 
love  with  the  beautiful  Hildegunde.  But  when 
does  the  course  of  true  love  ever  run  smooth  ! 
For  just  before  their  marriage,  Roland  was  sum- 
moned by  the  Emperor  to  the  Crusades.  From 
the  distant  East  the  report  came  that  Roland 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  infidels,  and  the 
world  lost  its  charm  for  his  Hildegunde ;  so  she 
entered  the  convent,  which  was  situated  on  an 
island  in  the  river,  just  beneath  his  castle.  Years 
after,  Roland  returned ;  but  when  he  found  she 


166  RAMBLES    ROUND 

was  shut  in  the  convent,  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  his  castle,  watching  daily  and  hourly 
for  the  sight  of  a  form  he  knew  so  well  among 
the  nuns  on  the  island  below  him.  Finally  she 
died ;  and,  never  speaking  a  word  after  that,  he, 
too,  died  broken-hearted  soon  after. 

Just  opj)osite  is  the  high  mountain  of  Dracli- 
enfels,  rising  900  feet  above  the  river.  Here, 
the  legend  has  it,  there  used  to  live  a  great 
dragon,  which  received  human  beings  as  his  food 
from  the  people  who  worshipped  him.  A  Chris- 
tian maiden  was  once  about  to  be  offered  to  him. 
But  she  made  the  sign  of  a  cross,  and  at  that 
sign  the  dragon  fled  and  leaped  into  the  river, 
and  was  never  heard  of  any  more.  By  this  act 
our  faith  conquered  heathenism  in  the  upper 
Bhine. 

The  Bhine  is  the  scene  of  castles  and  legends, 
but  it  is  more  than  that.  It  is  as  interesting  in 
its  religious  history  as  it  is  in  its  scenery. 

We  are  approaching  Cologne  with  its  match- 
less cathedral.  Cologne  is  one  of  the  largest  cities 
of  western  Germany,  having  150,000  inhabitants. 
From  the  flat  jDlain  on  which  it  is  located,  its 
cathedral  rises  in  grandeur,  overtopping  it  and 
crowning  it  Avith  glory.     Words  fail  to  describe 


REFORMED    LANDS.  107 

this  cathedral.  It  is  a  marvel  of  stone.  It  is  the 
finest  specimen  of  Gothic  architecture  in  Europe. 
The  Milan  cathedral  with  its  forest  of  white  mar- 
ble on  its  roof,  is  more  gorgeous  ;  but  this  cathe- 
dral with  its  massive  solid  granite  is  more  impres- 
ive.  We  get  some  idea  of  its  size  when  we  re- 
member that  it  is  almost  a  square  long,  444  feet. 
Its  roof  is  208  feet  high  (as  high  as  and  higher 
than  most  of  our  church  steeples).  Its  twin  tow- 
ers are  the  highest  church-towers  in  Europe,  512 
feet  high.  The  area  covered  by  the  buildhig  is 
250,000  square  feet.  It  is  not  the  vastness  that 
impresses  one,  it  is  the  wonderful  harmony  of 
all  the  parts.  It  is  ornamented  with  a  profusion 
of  flying  buttresses,  cornices,  gorgyles,  and  yet 
all  blend  in  wonderful  symmetry. 

The  past  history  of  its  building  is  almost  as 
wonderful  as  its  present  appearance.  Six  hun- 
dred years  ago  this  cathedral  was  planned  by  an 
unknown  architect.  He  planned  it  on  so  magnifi- 
cent a  scale  that  only  the  choir  and  the  west  end 
were  completed  at  the  time.  Then  the  work 
stopped.  The  architect  died,  and  there  was  not 
money  enough  to  complete  it.  The  city  grew 
around  it ;  streets  were  run  through  between  the 
two  ends  of  the  building,  and  houses   separated 


168  RAMBLES    ROUND 

the  one  end  from  the  other.  Then  the  plans  for 
the  building  were  lost,  and  no  one  was  found  who 
could  comiDlete  the  massive  structure.  Finally, 
after  six  centuries,  the  plans  were  found  again  in 
this  century,  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany  con- 
tributed liberally  toward  its  comj)letion,  so  that 
now  it  stands  complete  and  perfect — a  model  of 
beauty,  a  poem  in  stone.  The  effect  of  its  exter- 
ior is  wonderfully  beautiful,  whilst  its  interior  is 
deeply  imj^ressive. 

In  one  of  its  chapels  they  will  show  you  the 
bones  of  the  Wise  Men  of  the  Bible  (a  tradition 
which  is  believed  by  men  not  so  wise),  for  this 
cathedral  is  Catholic.  Indeed  Cologne  has  al- 
ways been  a  Catholic  stronghold.  It  is,  however, 
interesting  to  remember  that  about  the  close  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  two  of  the  Electors  of  Co- 
logne went  over  to  Protestantism.  And  the  Prot- 
estant service  was  then  held  several  times  even  in 
this  great  cathedral.  But  the  Catholic  j^eople 
came  up  and  threatened  a  tumult,  and  they  had 
to  be  given  up. 

Those  were  exciting  days.  No  Protestant 
minister  was  allowed  to  preach  in  Cologne.  So 
the  Count  of  Neunar  held  Protestant  service  at 
Mechtern,  just  outside  of  one  of  the  gates  of  Co- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  169 

logne  in  1582.  Thousands  of  the  people  flocked 
from  the  city  to  hear  the  gospel.  The  Catholic 
authorities  threatened  to  bombard  this  place  of 
preaching.  But  Protestant  nobles  around  Co- 
logne prevented  it.  The  result  was  that  the  city 
gates  were  shut,  and  the  Protestants  were  ordered 
to  quit  the  city.  Two  of  the  Electors  of  Cologne, 
Herman  and  Gebhard,  had  become  Protestant, 
but  the  city  and  the  chapter  of  the  cathedral  re- 
mained strongly  Catholic.  But  in  spite  of  all 
restrictions,  Protestantism  crept  in.  Reformed 
ministers,  disguised  as  merchants,  would  come  in 
and  hold  services  in  private  houses  ;  and  when 
they  went  to  Classis,  they  would  write  out  their 
parochial  reports  in  mercantile  form,  for  fear  of 
discovery.  When  these  secret  services  were 
held,  it  was  customary  for  an  elder  to  watch  the 
house  on  the  outside,  and  a  deacon  on  the  inside. 
They  were  thus  literally  soldiers  of  the  cross,  for 
they  were  j)Osted  as  sentinels.  But  it  was  this 
secret  worship  that  made  the  Reformed  Church 
of  the  lower  Rhine  so  spiritual. 

Tlie  organization  of  this  Cologne  church  was 
very  thorough.     The  city  was   divided  into  ten 
parts,  over  each  of  which  an  elder  had    over- 
sight.    Would  that  we  had  elders  in  our  churches 
12 


170  RAMBLES    ROUND 

to-day  who  would  do  such  work.  It  was  his 
duty  to  visit  the  members,  to  watch  over  their 
conduct,  to  visit  the  sick,  and  to  give  them  notice 
when  and  where  church  services  would  be  held. 

But  in  1608  the  Protestants  were  again  driven 
out,  and  many  of  them  settled  at  Muehlheim, 
three  miles  away  from  Cologne,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Rhine.  After  that  the  Reformed  people 
who  lived  in  Cologne  had  to  go  to  one  of  the 
neighboring  towns  to  church  service.  This  they 
did,  sometimes  in  cold  weather  and  at  the  risk  of 
their  lives.  Indeed  it  w^as  customary,  when  they 
wanted  to  have  a  child  baptized,  to  go  for  a  stay 
of  weeks  in  one  of  the  Reformed  villages  near 
by,  so  that  it  would  not  be  baptized  in  Cologne, 
and  claimed  by  the  Catholics.  But  during  the 
last  century  the  number  of  Protestants  in  Cologne 
has  increased  very  much,  and  there  are  now  26,- 
000  there  with  a  large  Evangelical  church. 

While  at  Cologne,  I  determine  to  visit  B^nn, 
a  university  town  up  the  Rhine.  After  writing 
a  few  letters  in  the  reading-room  of  the  hotel,  I 
rush  to  the  train,  only  to  find,  after  I  am  half 
way  to  Bonn,  that  I  have  by  mistake  gotten 
the  wrong  hat.  Hats  are  very  exchangeable  ar- 
ticles.    What  can  I  do  ?     I   can   not  go  back, 


KEFORMED    LANDS.  171 

as  there  is  no  train.  But  the  hat  that  I  have  is 
not  as  good  as  the  one  that  I  have  lost ;  neither 
does  it  fit  so  well.  My  only  way  is  to  go  on  and 
then  fix  matters  when  I  get  back  to  Cologne  a  few 
hours  after.  When  I  get  back  there,  I  tell  the 
porter  that  I  have  exchanged  hats  that  morning. 
"  Well,"  he  said,  "  you  are  the  third  person  to- 
day who  has  lost  his  hat  here."  I  go  into  the 
reading  room  and  there,  lo,  on  the  writing  ta- 
ble, is  my  hat.  I  rush  out  to  the  porter  to  ask 
him  what  the  man,  whose  hat  I  had  taken,  had 
done.  "Oh,"  says  the  porter,  "there  was  one 
man  who  had  not  time  to  wait  for  his  hat  to 
come  back.  He  just  tied  a  handkerchief  around 
his  neck  and  went  off  for  the  train."  He  left 
no  name,  so  I  have  no  means  of  returning  the 
hat.  But,  strange  to  say,  the  hat  is  from 
Philadelj)hia,  too,  and  it  is  strange  that  two 
Philadelphians  should  exchange  hats  in  that 
distant  city. 

Bonn  is  the  seat  of  a  famous  university,  at 
which  Prof.  Lange  used  to  be  the  leading  He- 
formed  professor.  Profs.  Krafft  and  Sieffert  are 
the  present  Reformed  professors  there.  But  I 
do  not  visit  Bonn  to  see  the  university,  but  to 
examine  a  new  movement  just  begun  in  Germany. 


172  RAMBLES    EOUXD 

I  may  be  wrong,  but  I  question  whether  this  new 
movement  will  not  do  more  good  for  Germany 
than  this  famous  university  has  done.  Religion 
in  Germany  is  closely  allied  to  the  state.  The 
churches,  therefore,  are  formal  and  not  aggres- 
sive. The  minister  is  limited  in  his  work  by  his 
parish,  and  as  many  of  the  parishes  are  exceed- 
ingly large,  (some  in  Berlin  having  50,000  to 
100,000  residents),  the  minister  has  too  much  to 
do  to  spread  the  gospel  among  all  the  fam- 
ilies committed  to  his  care.  But  if  he  can- 
not, who  will  ?  No  one.  The  result  has  been 
that  only  a  small  part  of  the  population  in  the 
cities  attend  church. 

Something  must  be  done.  The  cities  are  laps- 
ing back  to  paganism.  So  Prof.  Christlieb,  one 
of  the  most  famous  of  the  Bonn  j)rofessors,  and 
one  of  the  most  aggressive  of  the  German  minis- 
ters, founded  at  Bonn,  in  1886,  a  school  for  evan- 
gelists or  city  missionaries,  called  the  Johanneum. 
The  idea  is  to  train  up  young  men,  who,  although 
not  ordained  as  ministers,  will  yet  help  the  min- 
isters as  lay  missionaries.  They  cannot  admin- 
ister the  sacraments,  marry  or  bury.  Those  du- 
ties belong  to  the  clergy  ;  but  they  can  visit  the 
sick  and  the  j30or,  and  hold   prayer-meetings  in 


REFORMED    LANDS.  173 

the  homes,  and  organize  Sunday  schools,  and  in- 
vite people  to  come  to  church.  This  Johanneum 
is  the  beginning  of  a  great  work  for  Germany. 
It  is  the  completion  of  the  Inner  Mission  work 
begun  by  Dr.  Wichern  a  half  century  ago. 

Prof.  Pfleiderer,  the  superintendent  of  the  Jo- 
hanneum, showed  me  all  kindness  in  taking  me 
through  it  and  explaining  its  condition  and  the 
plans  of  the  work.  The  course  of  studies  requires 
three  years.  They  already  have  six  students  and 
the  number  is  increasing.  As  they  graduate, 
evangelical  pastors  in  the  large  cities  secure  them 
as  assistants. 

But  while  this  is  the  present  condition,  there 
is  a  future  outlook  of  hope,  greater  than  any  that 
Germany  has  seen  for  many  a  day.  Germany 
does  not  have  a  Mr.  Moody,  to  go  up  and  down 
the  land  preaching  to  the  multitudes,  but  there 
are  several  very  efficient  evangelists  who  have 
been  holding  meetings  at  various  places.  Among 
them  are  Kev.  Mr.  Von  Schlumbach,  Rev.  Mr. 
Schrenk,  of  Marburg,  Dr.  Ziemann  and  Dr.  Ba- 
decker.  They  work  entirely  within  Church  lines, 
although  when  the  clergy  will  not  invite  them 
into  their  pulpits,  they  hold  their  meetings  in 
halls.       They    hold    prayer-meetings     (Bibel- 


174  RAMBLES    ROUND 

Stunden) ,  and  other  meetings,  which  have  proven 
a  great  blessing  to  the  churches  and  cities. 

Dr.  Ziemann  tells  some  very  interesting  stories 
of  his  work  ;  how,  when  he  was  preaching  at 
Frankfort,  a  commanding  officer  of  the  hussars 
arose  and  testified  to  the  blessing  he  had  received 
from  these  services.  As  a  result  he  resigned  his 
command  and  brilliant  prospects,  and  has  entered 
a  mission  house  to  devote  himself  entirely  to 
Christ's  service.  Dr.  Ziemann  preached  at  Ham- 
burg to  audiences  as  large  as  4,000,  and  at  Frank- 
ford  to  audiences  numbering  3,000.  Evidently 
the  people  are  hungering  for  less  formal  and 
more  earnest  meetings. 

Rev.  Mr.  Schrenk,  formerly  a  Swiss  Reformed 
missionary,  but  now  living  at  Marburg,  has  also 
been  evangelizing.  He  went  some  years  ago  to 
Cassel  at  the  request  of  thirteen  ministers,  most 
of  them  Reformed,  and  held  two  services  a  day 
for  eighteen  days.  The  great  Reformed  church 
(St.  Martin's)  was  filled,  the  services  being  often 
attended  by  3,000  persons.  Two  thousand  men 
attended  a  separate  service.  Eleven  of  the  min- 
isters of  Cassel  signed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  him, 
and  the  secular  press  spoke  in  highest  terms  of 
his  meetings. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  175 

Evidently  there  is  a  new  spirit  rising  in  Ger- 
many, a  stirring  lip  among  the  dry  bones.  The 
ultimate  hope  of  this  Johanneum  at  Bonn 
is  that  out  of  the  students  who  graduate  from  it, 
there  will  develop  some  who  will  go  up  and  down 
Germany  like  angels  of  light,  reviving  the 
churches  and  turning  many  from  darkness  to 
light.  Germany  to-day  is  under  the  heel  of  ra- 
tionalism and  indiiference.  But  such  movements 
as  these  indicate  that  the  Church  is  awakening. 
She  is  not  quite  ripe  yet  for  such  movements,  but 
she  is  ripening.  O  that  the  land  of  Luther  would 
be  baptized. with  a  new  revival  in  this  nineteenth, 
as  it  was  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and "  that  this 
beautiful  Rhineland  would  become  Immanuel's 
land. 


176  RAMBLES    ROUND 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

Treves. 

West  of  the  Khine,  up  the  beautiful  Moselle 
river,  is  the  city  of  Treves.  It  is  a  city  that  is 
generally  passed  by  travellers,  because  out  of 
the  ordinary  line  of  travel.  Indeed,  I  had  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  getting"  there  and  in  get- 
ting away.  As  I  was  going  to  it,  the  railway 
guard  by  sheer  force  jjulled  me  off  the  right 
train,  telling  me  I  was  on  the  wrong  train.  I 
insisted  that  he  was  wrong  ;  but  I  could  do  very 
little,  as  the  country  was  French  and  I  am  no 
Frenchman.  Finally,  at  the  last  moment,  he 
acknowledged  that  I  was  right ;  and,  to  atone 
for  his  mistake,  put  me  on  the  train,  placing 
me  in  a  first-class  coach  on  a  second-class 
ticket.  And  in  coming  away,  I  very  nearly 
missed  the  train  again,  owing  to  the  slowness  of 
the  hotel  coach  at  Treves.  But  in  spite  of  all 
difficulties,  Treves  is  worthy  of  a  visit.  It  lies 
right  in  the  heart  of  a  valley  running  north  and 
south,  whilst  the  wooded  hills  on  each  side  of  the 
valley  overlook  it  like  the  walls  of  a  fort. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  177 

Treves  is  interesting  because  of  its  early  his- 
tory. It  is  the  oldest  town  in  Germany,  having 
belonged  to  the  Treverei  or  Belgic  Gauls,  56 
B.  C.  Then  came  the  Romans,  who  founded 
the  Roman  town,  which  became  the  capital  of  a 
Roman  province,  and  was  frequently  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Roman  emperors.  Treves  is  full 
of  relics  of  the  old  Roman  period.  As  I  enter 
the  city  from  the  station,  I  am  driven  through 
an  old  Roman  gate,  called  the  Porta  Nigra  or 
Black  Gate,  which  is  literally  black  with  age. 
It  is  a  magnificent  relic,  being  nearly  a  hundred 
feet  high.  It  rises  in  three  stories  or  galleries, 
one  above  the  other,  with  two  gateways  beneath 
them.  It  is  built  of  huge  blocks  of  sandstone. 
Its  antiquity  is  shown  in  that  its  blocks  are  fas- 
tened together,  not  by  mortar,  but  by  iron  bra- 
ces. This  gateway  is  a  suitable  introduction  to 
so  ancient  a  city.  Nor  is  this  all  of  the  Roman 
relics.  The  old  basilica  or  judgment  hall  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine  is  still  there.  The  ruins 
of  the  old,  Roman  palace,  some  of  them  65  feet 
high,  still  remain. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  relics  is  the  Ro- 
man amphitheatre,  situated  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  city.     It  was  large  enough  to  hold  30,000 


178  RAMBLES    ROUND 

people  (almost  half  as  large  as  the  Colosseum  at 
Rome).  It  is  built  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  while 
around  it  can  still  be  traced  the  dens  of  wild 
beasts  and  chambers  for  the  captives.  Here,  in 
the  year  306,  Constantine  the  Great  sullied  his 
fame  by  casting  thousands  of  Franks  to  the  wild 
beasts,  and  in  31  o  thousands  of  the  Bructeri 
were  sacrificed  to  the  amusement  of  the  j)eople. 

The  city  museum  also  contains  many  relics  of 
the  Roman  occupation.  The  extensive  Roman 
baths,  660  feet  long,  have  been  unearthed,  and 
the  cold  baths  and  heating  apparatus  can  still 
be  clearly  traced,  though  well  nigh  two  thou- 
sand years  have  elapsed  since  they  Were  used. 

But  Treves  is  as  interesting  in  its  religious 
history  as  it  is  in  its  Roman  history.  Christi- 
anity was  introduced  among  those  barbarous 
German  tribes  as  early  as  the  fourth  century. 
Constantine  worshipped  here.  The  most  im- 
portant church,  the  cathedral,  was  at  first  a  Ro- 
man court  of  justice.  This  cathedral  is  famous 
as  the  place  where  the  lioly  coat,  the  seamless 
garment  of  Christ,  is  said  to  be  kept.  It  is  occa- 
sionally shown  to  the  superstitious  pilgrims. 
Treves  also  became  the  seat  of  a  powerful  Cath- 
olic prince,  the  Elector  of  Treves,  and  a  centre 
of  the  most  bigoted  Romanism. 


EEFORMED    LANDS.  179 

But  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century 
the  influences  of  Protestantism  began  to  be  felt 
in  Treves.  A  young  man  Olevianus  (named 
after  a  suburb  of  Treves,  Olewig,  where  his 
father  had  lived)  was  born  here,  between  the 
market  place  and  the  moat.  After  elementary 
studies  at  Treves,  he  was  sent  to  France  to  com- 
plete his  education  for  the  law.  But  man  pro- 
poses, and  God  disposes.  God  meant  him  for 
the  ministry.  While  in  France,  he  joined  the 
secret  Reformed  church,  for  Protestantism  was 
under  the  ban.  After  his  conversion  occurred 
an  event  that  changed  his  whole  life.  While 
walking  along  the  borders  of  the  river  at  Bour- 
ges,  with  the  prince  of  Simmern,  his  companion 
and  bosom  friend,  some  fellow  students  came 
with  a  boat  and  urged  them  to  go  with  them. 
The  prince  stepped  into  the  boat,  which  was  up- 
set in  the  stream.  Olevianus,  forgetful  of  his 
own  danger,  rushed  into  the  water  to  save  his 
friend,  only  to  find  himself  caught  in  the  muddy 
bottom  of  the  river.  While  thus  susp>ended  be- 
tween life  and  eternity,  he  made  a  vow  that  if 
God  would  spare  his  life,  he  would  devote  him- 
self to  the  gospel  ministry.  A  servant  of  the 
prince  happened  to  come  at  that  moment,  and, 


180  RAMBLES    ROUND 

mistaking  Olevianus  for  the  prince,  pulled  him 
ashore.  His  life  was  saved,  and  that  life  ever 
afterwards  was  Christ's. 

Having  finished  his  law  course,  he  went  to 
Geneva  to  study  theology  at  the  feet  of  Calvin. 
But  this  young  man  became  very  anxious  about 
the  salvation  of  his  birthplace.  He  wanted  his 
relatives  and  friends  to  hear  the  gospel.  For 
Treves  was  a  jDriest-ridden  city,  and  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  get  an  entrance  there.  At  last  he  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  position  as  teacher  of  an  endowed 
school  at  Treves.  He  found  that  already  quite  a 
number  of  the  citizens  were  friendly  to  the  gos- 
pel. So  he  nailed  on  the  city  hall  of  Treves,  one 
Summer  day  in  1560,  a  notice  inviting  the  citi- 
zens to  a  discussion  at  his  school  on  Sunday 
morning.  His  school  was  crowded.  Peoj^le, 
instead  of  going  to  mass,  came  to  hear  what  he 
had  to  say.  He  declaimed  against  the  worship 
of  saints  and  relics,  and  against  processions,  for 
which  Treves  was  famous ;  and  then  pressed 
home  on  his  hearers  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith.  The  secretary  of  the  city  council  was 
there,  and  being  a  good  Catholic,  he  laid  the 
matter  before  thie  council  the  next  day.  This 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis.     But  it  \yas  found 


EEFORMED    LANDS. 


lal 


that  so  many  members  of  the  council  were  favor- 
able to  the  new  doctrines  that,  although  they  or- 
dered Olevianus  to  cease  preaching  in  his  school, 
because  it  was  endowed,  they  yet  gave  him  a 
small  church  which  belonged  to  the  city,  the  St. 
Jacob's  church. 

Here  he  preached  to  ever  increasing  crowds. 
Nearly  half  of  the  citizens  were  inclined  to  the 
gospel.  This  was  very  remarkable,  when  we 
remember  what  a  hot-bed  of  Catholicism  Treves 
had  been.  Olevianus  had  the  great  joy  of  lead- 
ing his  brothers  to  Christ.  His  church  became 
so  full  that  the  chancel  and  door  and  church 
steps  were  crowded  with  people.  It  looked  as  if 
this  stronghold  of  Catholicism  were  about  being 
captured. 

The  Elector  of  Treves,  hearing  of  the  evan- 
gelical revolt  in  his  own  city,  came  with  troops 
and  ordered  them  to  submit.  But  even  the  lib- 
eral Catholics  resented  his  interference  with  their 
rights  as  citizens,  and  the  people  closed  the  gates 
against  the  Elector.  He  then  besieged  the  city, 
cutting  off  food  and  worrying  them.  Thus  he 
soon  gained  allies  in  the  city,  who  opened  the 
gates  to  him  ;  and  he  marched  in  and  put  the 
leaders  of  the  Protestants,  among  them  Olevi- 


182  RAMBLES    ROUND 

anus,  under  arrest.  Finally  he  ordered  all  the 
Protestants  to  leave  the  city.  They  went  to 
neighboring  cities,  who  were  friendly  to  them. 

Olevianus  was  called  from  his  prison  to  a  pro- 
fessorship in  Heidelberg ;  for  the  Elector  of  the 
Palatinate  had  not  forgotten  how  Olevianus  had 
befriended  his  son,  who  had  been  drowned  at 
Bourges.  Olevianus  left  Treves,  to  go  to  Hei- 
delberg to  aid  in  the  composition  of  our  cate- 
chism. Thus  his  effort  to  convert  Treves  failed, 
and  for  250  years  no  Protestant  service  was  al- 
lowed in  the  city. 

But  Treves,  by  driving  out  the  Protestants, 
drove  out  her  best  and  most  industrious  citizens. 
Ever  since  she  has  been  a  second-rate  city. 
Other  towns,  built  up  by  these  Protestants,  have 
outranked  her  in  size  and  influence.  Bitterly 
did  she  suffer  for  her  persecution.  After  Olevi- 
anus departed,  the  Catholics  inaugurated  a  pro- 
cession to  commemorate  the  purging  of  the  city 
from  heresy.  This  was  called,  after  Olevianus, 
the  Olevian  procession.  This  procession  took 
place  yearly  on  Whitmonday.  Treves  remained 
Catholic  ;  and  over  the  valley  to-day,  on  the 
high  hilltop  overlooking  the  city,  is  the  colossal 
statue  of  the  Virgin,  whose  faith  still  rules  the 
region. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  183 

Now,  remembering  these  facts,  Treves  becomes 
very  interesting  to  the  traveller.  It  is  a  fasci- 
nating study  to  visit,  and,  perhaj^s,  to  discover 
these  old  historic  sites.  I  find  that  the  red  sand- 
stone hotel  where  I  am  staying,  was  the  city 
hall,  on  whose  walls  Olevianus  nailed  his  chal- 
lenge to  the  Catholics  in  1560.  I  take  my  sup- 
per in  this  historic  building,  and  my  meal  is 
seasoned  with  such  memories.  Then  I  inquire 
of  a  bookseller  where  the  St.  Jacob's  church  is. 
He  says  there  is  no  church  of  that  name  in  the 
city.  I  tell  him  it  was  located  on  the  Fleisch 
Gasse.  (Some  of  the  names  of  the  streets  in 
Germany  are  very  suggestive.  This  Fleisch 
Gasse — Flesh  Street — was  probably  so  called, 
because  it  used  to  be  the  butchers'  street.  An- 
other street  there  is  called  the  Sugar  Mountain 
Street,  I  suj)pose  because  it  is  so  sweet.)  The 
bool^seller  looks  surprised  at  me  when  I  insist 
that  there  was  a  church  on  the  Fleisch  Gasse, 
where  Olevianus  preached.  But,  finally,  after 
racking  his  brain,  he  remembers  that  there  used 
to  be  a  hosj^ital  on  that  street  called  St.  Jaex)b's 
Hospital,  which  might  mark  the  site.  I  go 
around  to  that  street  and  find  an  old  building; 
(still  bearing  the  outlines  of  a  church),  which  is, 


184  KAMBLES    ROUND 

however,  now  tenanted  by  families.  This,  then, 
was  the  long  lost  St.  Jacob's  church.  The  proba- 
bility is,  that  after  it  had  been  "desecrated"  by 
Protestant  worship,  it  was  condemned  by  the 
Catholics,  and  either  left  idle  or  reduced  from  a 
church  to  a  hospital  as  a  punishment.  And 
when  the  city  hospital  was  built,  a  few  years  ago, 
it  was  unused  and  forgotten.  But  this  little 
church  was  once  the  seat  of  evangelical  ac- 
tivity in  Treves. 

Just  before  leaving  this  interesting  city,  I  go 
over  to  the  cathedral.  Next  to  the  cathedral  is 
a  much  finer  building  architecturally,  the  Lieb- 
frau  Kirche,  most  beautiful,  with  its  early  Gothic 
exterior,  and  its  twelve  slender  pillars  in  its  in- 
terior. I  enter  the  cathedral ;  but  as  it  is  toward 
evening,  there  are  few  worshippers.  Yonder  in 
the  high  altar,  the  Catholics  fondly  believe,  is 
deposited  the  Holy  Coat  of  Christ,  as  well  as  a 
nail  from  the  cross  and  a  part  of  the  crown  of 
thorns.  But  what  are  these  branches  of  the 
trees  set  up  along  the  walls,  which  are  now  cov- 
ered with  partially  withered  leaves  ?  I  ask,  and 
lo,  at  once  these  branches  become  profoundly  in- 
teresting to  me.  They  were  carried  in  the  Whit- 
monday  or  Olevian  procession  just  two  weeks 


REFORMED    LANDS.  185 

before  I  visit  Treves.  The  clergy  and  some  of 
the  Catholic  societies  on  that  morning  marched 
through  the  streets,  carrying  these  branches ; 
while  in  the  streets  through  which  they  passed, 
the  houses  were  covered  with  decorations  of 
green  leaves.  After  the  procession  was  over, 
these  branches  were  brought  into  the  cathedral 
and  left  there,  where  they  are  now  withering  as 
I  look  at  them. 

So  Treves  still  keeps  the  procession  in  honor 
of  the  driving  out  of  Olevianus  and  the  Protest- 
ants in  1560.  It  is  true,  it  is  no  longer  called 
the  Olevian  procession,  as  it  used  to  be.  Its 
connection  with  Olevianus  is  forgotten,  and  it 
now  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Whitmonday  pro- 
cession. But  still  it  commemorates  the  driving 
out  of  the  Protestants.  However,  with  all  its 
processions,  Treves  has  not  been  able  to  keep 
out  the  heresy  of  Protestantism.  Although  for 
250  years  no  Protestant  worship  was  allowed, 
still  Protestants  came  and  settled  there.  Finally 
a  congregation  was  organized  in  1817,  which 
now  numbers  3,500  members  (including  the  sol- 
diers stationed  there)  and  has  two  pastors.  By 
a  curious  coincidence  this  evangelical  congrega- 
tion now  worships  in  the  old   Roman  basilica 


186  RAMBLES    ROUND 

built  by  Constantine,  and  where  he  in  all  proba- 
bility worshipped  in  the  pure  faith  before  Ko- 
manism  was  known.  And  now  again,  in  the 
same  place,  the  Protestants  have  revived  his 
early  worship.  Persecution  can  not  keep  out 
the  truth. 

Treves,  the  city  of  the  Holy  Coat,  will  yet 
learn  that  not  Christ's  robe,  but  Christ's  right- 
eousness will  save. 

Jesus,  Thy  blood  and  righteousness, 
My  beauty  is,  my  glorious  dress, 
Midst  flaming  worlds  in  these  arrayed 
With  joy  shall  I  lift  up  my  head. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  187 


CHAPTER   XV. 
Elberfeld. 

A  beautiful  Saturday  evening  finds  me  enter- 
ing Elberfeld,  about  thirty  miles  north  of  Co- 
logne. I  am  making  a  special  effort  to  spend  a 
Sabbath  in  this  E-eformed  centre  of  Germany  ; 
for  Elberfeld  is  the  most  Reformed  city  of  the 
fatherland.  And  this  is  significant  in  this  age, 
when  in  so  many  places  the  Reformed  conscious- 
ness seems  to  be  fading  out.  A  Sabbath  at  El- 
berfeld will  give  one  a  better  idea  of  the  old  cus- 
toms of  the  Reformed  Church  than  at  any  other 
place  in  Germany ;  for,  the  Reformed  being  in 
the  majority,  they  have  clung  tenaciously  to  our 
customs. 

Indeed,  the  whole  make-up  of  this  city  is  pe- 
culiar. There  are  really  two  cities,  rather  than 
one.  They  are  twin  cities — Barmen  and  Elber- 
feld ;  and  this  chapter  might  be  called  "the  tale 
of  two  cities."  They  lie  along  a  very  narrow 
valley,  not  more  than  a  mile  wide,  through 
which  flows,  in  serpentine  course,  the  Wujjper 


188  RAMBLES    ROUND 

creek ;  while  the  hillsides,  on  each  side  of  the 
creek,  rise  almost  precipitously  along  the  edges 
of  these  two  towns.  Into  this  narrow  valley, 
and  along  this  little  stream,  are  crowded  almost 
200,000  people,  who  make  up  these  two  cities. 

Elberfeld  is  not  only  the  centre  of  religious 
life,  but  also  of  business.  The  little  valley  throbs 
with  manufactories.  There  are  numerous  and 
extensive  factories  for  cotton,  calico,  soap,  silk, 
ribbons,  candles  and  chemicals.  The  produc- 
tion of  silk  and  cotton  manufactories  is  forty- 
two  millions  of  dollars  annually.  The  place  is 
a  seething  cauldron  of  business  activity.  One 
sees  here  a  good  deal  of  the  rush  and  push  of 
American  industry,  which  is  so  rarely  met  with 
in  Germany,  where  workmen  are  proverbially 
slow. 

And  there  is  a  curious  history  connected  with 
the  business  of  the  city.  Elberfeld,  like  Zurich, 
owes  its  business  prominence  to  Protestantism. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  two 
princes  had  an  unfortunate  quarrel,  because  the 
one  boxed  the  other's  ear.  This  boxing  of  the 
ear  was  one  of  the  causes  that  led  on  the  unfor- 
tunate Thirty  Years'  War.  The  Elector  of 
Brandenburg  and   the   Duke  of  Pfalz-Neuberg 


REFORMED    LANDS.  189 

both  claimed  to  be  heir  to  the  duchy  of  Julich- 
Cleve-Berg  and  Mark,  which  is  situated  near 
Cologne.  They  had  agreed  to  a  compromise, 
when,  in  a  moment  of  passion,  the  Elector  of 
Brandenburg  boxed  the  ear  of  the  prince  of 
Pfalz-Neuberg.  The  latter  vowed  vengeance, 
and,  to  win  the  support  of  the  Catholics  in  gain- 
ing this  duchy,  he  left  Protestantism  and  joined 
the  Catholic  Church.  This  led  to  much  fight- 
ing and  bloodshed  along  the  lower  Rhine.  Fi- 
nally, the  duchy  was  divided,  and  the  county  of 
Berg,  in  which  Elberfeld  was  located,  was  given 
as  his  share  to  the  Duke  of  Pfalz-Neuberg. 
This  Catholic  prince  at  once  proceeded  to  per- 
secute the  Protestants.  The  Reformed  pastor  of 
Elberfeld,  Kalman,  was  forbidden  to  use  the 
church  ;  and  it  was  given  to  the  Catholics,  al- 
though only  six  families  in  the  town  were  Catho- 
lics. The  Reformed,  in  some  parts  of  this  region, 
held  services  in  the  open  air,  when  the  church 
was  closed  against  them.  The  Duke  finally 
allowed  them  to  worship  in  their  churches.  But 
he  did  not  permit  the  Protestants  to  hold  any 
government  j^osition.  So,  as  they  were  shut  out 
of  politics,  they  went  into  business.  And  so  suc- 
cessful were  they  in  business,  that  they  built  up 


190  KAMBLES    ROUND 

the  present  trade  of  Elberfeld.  So  their  per- 
secution led  to  their  prosperity.  And  Elberfeld 
owes  its  business  success  to  Protestantism  and 
the  Reformed  faith. 

This  church  of  Elberfeld  has  always  been 
prominent  in  our  Church  history.  It  is  to-day 
the  largest  Reformed  congregation  in  Germany, 
numbering  35,000 ;  while  Barmen  has  in  addi- 
tion 15,000  more,  so  that  there  are  50,000  in 
this  little  valley.  It  is  about  the  largest  Re- 
formed congregation  in  Europe.  The  only  one 
to  compete  with  it  is  the  Reformed  congregation 
at  Debretzin  in  Hungary,  where  the  Reformed 
number  36,000.  This  congregation  has  had 
prominent  pastors  for  many  years.  PerhajDS  one 
of  the  most  eloquent  ministers  that  ever  graced 
the  Reformed  pulpit  of  Germany,  was  Frederick 
William  Krummacher.  His  autobiography, 
which  has  been  translated  into  English,  has  all 
the  charm  of  a  religious  romance.  He  became 
pastor  of  this  church  at  Barmen  in  1825.  Here 
at  his  week-day  services  he  delivered  his  lectures 
on  Elijah  and  Elisha,  which  have  since  been  pub- 
lished in  book  form,  and  which  have  added  so 
much  to  his  fame.  They  are  very  helpful  and 
spiritual  studies  in  the  lives  of  these  great  proph- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  191 

ets.  Crowded  congregations  listened  to  him. 
His  fame  increased.  He  was,  until  a  few  years 
ago,  the  German  preacher  best  known  to  English 
readers.  His  fame  led  our  theological  seminary 
at  Mercersburg  to  call  him  to  a  professorship, 
and  Rev.  Drs.  Hoffeditz  and  Schneck  went  to 
Europe  as  a  committee  to  press  on  him  the  call. 
He  did  not  accept  it,  but  recommended  Rev.  Dr. 
Philip  Schaff,  who  came  to  this  country  and 
adorned  the  professorship. 

Dr.  Krummacher  remained  at  Barmen  until 
1847,  when  he  was  called  to  Berlin,  then  largely 
under  rationalistic  influences.  His  undaunted 
preaching  of  the  old  gospel  had  a  marked  influ- 
ence on  that  German  capital.  He  was  probably 
one  of  the  finest  pulpit  orators  Germany  has  pro- 
duced in  this  century.  Thorwaldsen,  the  great 
sculptor,  once  met  him  at  Frankford,  and  was 
attracted  by  his  noble  forehead  and  appearance, 
and  asked  him,  "  Are  you  an  artist  ?"  ''  No,  a 
theologian."  To  which  the  sculptor  replied : 
"  How  can  one  be  only  a  theologian  ?"  But  Krum- 
macher proved  that  the  theologian  could  be  the 
highest  type  of  an  artist. 

Another  prominent  minister  who  preached  at 
Elberfeld  was  Kohlbruegge.    He  lived  there  from 


192  RAMBLES    ROUND 

1834  to  1875.  He  was  a  very  earnest  preacher, 
and  his  preaching  led  to  a  revival  all  through 
this  region.  He  was  also  a  hitter  opponent  of 
the  union  of  the  Keformed  with  the  Lutherans  to 
form  the  state  Church  of  Germany.  As  a  re- 
sult, a  part  of  the  Reformed  congregation  at  El- 
berfeld  broke  away  from  the  state  Church  and 
became  independent,  and  he  became  its  pastor. 
Although  he  has  died,  yet  the  congregation  still 
exists,  and  his  influence  remains. 

But  the  strength  of  the  Reformed  Church  here 
is  in  the  state  Church.  This  church  at  Elber- 
feld  has  six  pastors.  They  are  Krummacher,  a 
relative  of  Frederick  William,  of  whom  I  have 
just  spoken,  and  the  president  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  of  western  Ger- 
many ;  Calaminus,  the  editor  of  the  Reformed 
Church  paper,  the  "  Kirchenzeitung" ;  Horne- 
mann,  Stoltenhofl",  Geyser,  and  Neuenhaus.  The 
congregation  has  two  churches.  The  Barmen 
congregation  has  three  or  four  pastors  and  two 
churches.  The  Elberfeld  congregation  has  a 
beautiful  church  building  in  its  second  church. 

The  Barmen  congregation  is  just  about  build- 
ing a  fine  new  church.  This  large  congregation 
is  a  hive  of  activity.     It  has  a  Sabbath  school  of 


REFORMED    LANDS.  193 

600  at  Elberfeld.  It  has  prayer-meetings  (Bibel- 
stunden)  once  or  twice  a  week.  There  is  a  large 
and  successful  singing  society  in  connection  with 
the  Reformed  church,  and  also  a  publication  so- 
ciety for  the  dissemination  of  Reformed  literature. 

I  asked  Dr.  Calaminus  how  closely  the  church 
was  united  to  the  state ;  whether  the  pastors 
were  paid  by  the  state.  He  answered,  no  ;  that 
the  congregation  was  rich  enough  to  pay  all  the 
pastors  without  state  aid.  And  yet,  though  so 
loosely  -bound  to  the  state,  they  are  afraid  to 
separate  from  it ;  afraid,  indeed,  to  do  anything 
that  the  consistory  appointed  by  the  government 
may  not  approve.  (The  consistory  in  Germany 
is  often  a  religious  fetish  worshipped  or  feared.) 

But  these  cities  are  not  only  a  hive  of  indus- 
try in  the  Reformed  churches,  but  also  outside 
of  them.  At  first  there  were  almost  none  but 
Reformed  living  here.  But  as  the  city  grew, 
many  Lutherans  came  in  from  neighboring  Lu- 
theran states  ;  and  there  are  now  several  Lu- 
theran churches,  and  also  Catholic,  besides  Jews. 
Other  sects  have  since  come  in  to  work  on  a 
population  naturally  religiously  inclined.  The 
Baptists,  Irvingites,  Albright  Methodists  and 
others  have  small  congregations   there.     As  I 


194  RAMBLES    KOUND 

look  over  the  religious  announcements  for  Sun- 
day, I  am  surprised  at  the  number  of  religious 
services  of  all  kinds.  The  city  seems  full  of  re- 
ligious life,  although  there  is  also  much  religious 
indifference,  too. 

As  there  is  nothing  to  do  on  Saturday  eve- 
ning, I  go  up  to  the  Haardt  park,  a  most  beau- 
tiful promenade  overlooking  the  two  cities,  while 
the  setting  sun  is  bathing  the  valley  in  glory. 
On  Sabbath  morning  I  attend  the  Second  Ee- 
formed  church,  to  hear  Rev.  Dr.  Calaminus. 
Having  made  myself  known,  I  am  invited  by 
the  presbytery  or  eldership  to  sit  with  them ; 
for  the  elders  occupy  a  front  pew  aside  of  the 
pulpit,  as  they  do  in  the  Holland  churches. 
Then  I  remember  that  this  church,  with  all 
the  northern  Rhine  Reformed  churches,  was 
originally  a  part  of  the  Dutch  Church,  and  has 
thus  retained  this  custom  of  an  elders'  pew. 
From  my  pew  I  am  able  to  hear  and  see  the 
minister,  but  my  neck  is  almost  broken  as  I 
look  up  at  him  in  the  pulpit.  For  the  pulpit  is 
high  and  my  seat  is  almost  under  it.  Such  a 
pew  would  be  a  good  place  for  stiff-necked  peo- 
ple. Perhaps  some  of  the  stiff-necked  elders  in 
our  consistories  would  be  less  cranky,  if  their 


REFORMED    LANDS.  195 

spirits  were  broken  thus.  For  the  okl  German 
name  of  consistory  was  "  still-stand  ;"  and  some- 
times it  stood  still,  because  some  member  of  it 
became  balky. 

This  reminds  me  of  a  story  I  once  heard  Rev. 
Dr.  Burns,  of  Halifax,  tell,  that  in  a  session  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  an  elder  was  asked  by 
a  minister  what  he  could  do.  Could  he  lead  in 
prayer?  No.  Could  he  visit  the  sick?  No. 
Could  he  teach  in  Sabbath  school  ?  No.  "  Well, 
what  can  you  do?"  "I  can  raise  an  objection," 
was  the  reply.  That  was  the  only  thing  he 
could  do,  raise  an  objection  to  whatever  came  up 
in  the  session.  But  an  elder's  duty  is  more  than 
to  raise  an  objection  ;  it  is  to  help  the  pastor. 
The  eldership  of  Elberfeld  has  always  been  an 
honor  to  the  church,  as  elders  should  always  be. 

But  the  service  in  the  church  is  very  interest- 
ing, as  it  reminds  me  of  the  old  customs  of  the 
Church.  They  generally  sing  psalms,  for  the 
early  Reformed  Church  was  a  psalm  singing 
Church.  They  cling  tenaciously  to  the  old  Cal- 
vinistic  doctrines  of  the  Church.  I  remember 
meeting  a  gentleman,  a  member  of  this  church, 
at  Barmen.  When  he  found  that  I  was  from 
America,  he  began    questioning  me   about  the 


196  KAMBLES    ROUND 

Keformed  peoj^le  over  here.  And  his  first  ques- 
tion was :  "  Do  you  believe  in  the  election  of 
grace  ?"  I  told  him  :  "  Yes,  I  believe  in  elec- 
tion." But  where  else  in  the  world,  except  in 
Scotland,  would  such  a  question  be  the  first  to  be 
asked  ?  I  knew  what  he  referred  to.  In  Ger- 
many, where  the  evangelical  Churches  must 
combat  rationalism  so  continually,  he  wanted  to 
satisfy  his  mind  that  I  was  not  a  rationalist ; 
and  the  best  way  to  do  that  was  to  ask  me 
whether  I  believed  in  election.  And  he  was 
right.  For  the  man  who  believes  in  God's  sov- 
ereignty, will  not  believe  much  in  man's  sov- 
ereignty, as  the  rationalists  do. 

After  their  psalm  was  sung,  there  was  a  short 
prayer,  in  which  the  pastor  prayed  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Reformed  Alliance  just  closed  in  Lon- 
don ;  and  also  for  evangelistic  work  everywhere, 
but  especially  in  Germany.  He  then  jDreached 
an  earnest  and  able  sermon  on  the  parable  of 
the  great  supper.  The  simplicity  of  the  church 
and  the  service  and  the  sermon  was  in  entire 
keeping  with  the  genius  of  the  Reformed  Church, 

Having  heard  there  was  to  be  a  catechetical 
sermon  in  the  afternoon  at  the  old  Reformed 
church,  I  hasten  to  attend  it.     In  America  we 


REFORMED    LANDS.  197 

have  our  catechetical  lectures  on  week  days  or 
nights.  But  the  ancient  custom  of  our  Church 
was  to  have  a  sermon  iDreached  on  it  on  Sab- 
bath afternoons.  The  Elberfeld  church  still 
keeps  up  this  old  custom.  Another  of  the  pas- 
tors, Rev.  Mr.  Hornemann,  preached  on  the 
second  commandment.  But  it  is  not  so  much 
an  exposition  of  that  commandment  as  a  sermon 
on  the  text :  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that 
worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  The  service  is  attended  by  young  and 
old  ;  and  not  merely  by  the  young,  as  is  so  often 
the  case  in  our  churches.  When  I  return  to 
my  room  in  the  evening,  I  find  a  young  Ger- 
man friend  had  been  seeking  me.  He  is  the 
agent  for  the  Reformed  Publication  Society,  and 
is  an  enthusiastic  Reformed.  He  has  just  come 
from  a  catechism  prayer  meeting.  I  tell  him 
that  I  wish  I  had  been  with  him  to  see  this  an- 
other relic  of  former  Reformed  customs.  It 
used  to  be  the  custom  in  the  country  of  Meurs, 
near  here,  for  the  elders  to  gather  together  the 
members  and  hold  a  catechism  prayer  meeting. 
They  would  talk  over  the  answers  among  them- 
selves, examining  the  doctrines  and  proof-texts, 
and  have  prayer  and  praise  with  each  other. 


198  RAMBLES    HOUND 

This  young  friend  tells  me  that  in  Barmen  they 
have  a  meeting  of  that  kind,  from  which  he  has 
just  come. 

So  we  can  easily  see  that  these  cities  are  the 
seat  of  religious  activity  of  western  Germany,  as 
well  as  the  centre  of  the  Reformed  Church  of 
the  land.  This  religiousness  reveals  itself  in  the 
many  religious  institutions,  with  which  the  place 
is  blessed,  as  hospitals  and  asylums.  There  is  a 
large  building  at  Barmen,  called  the  Vereins- 
haus,  which  is  the  centre  of  all  kinds  of  reli- 
gious work.  It  contains  a  Home  for  the  travel- 
ling artizans,  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  &c. 

But  not  the  least  of  the  institutions  of  Barmen 
is  the  Mission  House.  We  have  already  taken 
a  glimpse  at  the  mission  house  at  Basle.  Here 
we  come  in  contact  with  the  German  missionary 
societies.  We  in  America  must  not  think  that 
English  speaking  races  have  the  monopoly  of 
missions.  There  are  fourteen  missionary  socie- 
ties in  Germany,  having  323  stations,  which 
have  68,000  communicants,  have  baptized  5,600 
last  year  and  raised  almost  $500,000  annually. 

This  mission  at  Barmen,  which  belongs  to  the 
Rhenish  Missionary  Society,  is  a  fair  sample  of 
the   German   missions.      The   religious   life   of 


REFORMED    LANDS.  199 

these  people  in  this  valley  was  so  fervent  that 
they  were  not  satisfied  until  they  sent  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen.  So  a  missionary  society  was 
started  in  Elberfeld  as  early  as  1799,  another  at 
Barmen  later.  These  were  finally  consolidated 
into  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Rhine  in 
1828.  This  Khenish  society  is  now  one  of  the 
leading  German  missions.  It  has  48  stations, 
8,500  communicants,  has  baptized  1,225  last 
year,  and  has  had  an  income  of  $71,000  last 
year.  This  mission,  like  almost  all  the  German 
missions,  is  a  manual  mission  ;  that  is,  it  teaches 
its  young  men  trades  which  they  use  at  the  mis- 
sion stations.  In  this  respect  it  is  like  the  mis- 
sion at  Basle.  It  is  undenominational,  sending 
out  alike  Lutheran  and  Reformed  missionaries. 
It  has  done  a  remarkable  work  in  South  Africa, 
where  it  was  one  of  the  first  agencies  to  oppose 
the  slave  trade ;  and  also  in  the  East  Indies,  in 
Borneo  and  Sumatra,  where  it  has  done  a  grand 
work.  It  has  also  missionaries  in  China.  Its 
mission  in  Borneo  has  been  destroyed  again  and 
again.  But  still  these  brave  missionaries  con- 
tinued. The  society  has  sent  out  175  persons 
during  the  last  60  years.  This  is  a  grand  record 
and  worthy  of  the  mission.     It  also  possesses  a 


200  RAMBLES    ROUND 

fine  missionary  museum,  consisting  of  idols,  im- 
plements of  war,  and  articles  of  dress  of  the  hea- 
then. Indeed,  no  more  eloquent  appeal  could 
be  made  for  missions  than  is  made  by  such  mis- 
sionary museums.  I  wonder  that  our  missionary 
societies  in  America  do  not  have  them. 

But  some  of  the  Reformed  people  near  Elber- 
feld  at  Neukirch  were  not  satisfied  to  belong  to 
an  undenominational  society,  so  they  have  formed 
a  missionary  society  that  is  purely  Reformed, 
and  which  is  growing  rapidly.  Germany  has 
the  reputation  among  English  people  of  being 
rather  a  godless  land.  But  when  we  see  such 
religious  life  and  activity,  there  is  hope  for  the 
future.  Elberfeld  and  Barmen  are  the  double 
stars  of  hope  in  the  religious  firmament  of  west- 
ern Germany. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  201 


CHAPTEK  XVI. 
Miihlheim  and  Kaiserswerth. 

Muehllieim  and  Kaiserswerth,  two  gems  in  the 
crown  of  the  German  Reformed  Church,  the  one 
a  star  of  the  past,  splendid  in  its  religious  his- 
tory ;  the  other  a  star  of  the  future,  which  will 
never  set  till  its  light  shines  the  whole  earth 
round.  Muehlheim,  the  home  of  a  mill, — but  also 
the  home  of  God's  spirit  in  days  past ;  Kaisers- 
werth, meaning  "  worthy  of  a  kaiser,"  or  emperor, 
— yes  worthy  of  the  King  of  kings  ;  Muehlheim, 
the  birth-place  of  pietism  and  the  home  of  Ter- 
steegen  ;  Kaiserswerth,  the  birth-place  of  deacon- 
esses and  the  home  of  Fliedner. 

Muehlheim  was  a  hard  place  to  find,  and  hard 
just  because  there  are  too  many  Muehlheims. 
Frequently  there  are  several  places  of  the  same 
name,  and  the  traveller  is  sure,  of  course,  to  get 
to  the  wrong  one.  My  time  was  very  valuable, 
because  I  want  to  see  a  great  deal  in  a  very  short 
time.  But  of  that  valuable  time  I  wasted  a  whole 
day,  without  being  able  to  find  out  the  place 
14 


202  RAMBLES    ROUND 

where  Miiehlheim  lay.  I  first  visit  Muehlheim 
along  the  Khine,  just  below  Cologne,  a  prosperous 
town  built  by  Reformed  people  who  were  driven 
out  of  Cologne  in  1608,  because  they  would 
not  give  up  their  faith.  Some  years  after,  the 
citizens  of  Cologne,  jealous  of  the  prosperity  of 
Muehlheim  and  hating  their  religion,  came  over 
one  night  and  razed  the  city  to  the  ground,  so 
that  not  one  stone  was  left  on  another.  But 
Muehlheim Shas  since  risen  to  prosperity  again, 
and  is  now  a  large  and  flourishhig  manufacturing- 
town.  I  inquire  at  Muehlheim  wdiere  Terstee- 
gen's  hut'or  cottage  could  be  found,  but  no  one 
seems  to  know.  The  station  master  does  not 
know,  the  hotel  keeper  does  not  know.  In  de- 
spair I  seek  the  parsonage  of  the  Reformed 
church  and  ask  for  the  pastor,  but  he  is  out ;  and 
when  I  ask  the  girl  who  comes  to  the  door, 
whether  she^knows  where  Tersteegen's  house  is, 
she  only  answers  me  by  a  shake  of  the  head.  I 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  strangers  know  more 
about  Muehlheim  than  the  people  who  live  in  it. 
So  I  spend  f  and  waste  Saturday  afternoon  for 
naught. 

After  a  Sabbath  spent  at  Elberfeld,   I  return 
again  on^Monday  to  the  search.     I  had  learned 


REFORMED    LANDS.  203 

there  that  this  house  was  located  at  Otterbeck,  near 
Muehlheim.  So  I  hire  a  carriage  and  search  the 
country  around.  I  stop  about  three  miles  from 
the  town  to  ask.  The  hotel  keeper  says  that  the 
schoolmaster  yonder  will  know.  I  go  to  the 
schoolmaster,  two  miles  off,  only  to  find  that  he  is  a 
Catholic,  and  of  course  knows  nothing  about  such 
a  staunch  Protestant  as  Tersteegen.  But  he 
says  the  minister  of  the  church,  two  miles  further, 
will  be  able  to  tell  me.  I  arrive  at  the  pastor's 
house  to  find  that  he,  too,  is  a  Romish  priest,  and 
of  course  knows  nothing  ;  but  he  sends  me  to  the 
evangelical  pastor,  two  miles  further  on.  There 
at  last  I  get  on  the  track  of  the  place.  But  I 
learn  from  him,  after  having  spent  the  whole 
morning  in  a  vain  search,  that  I  am  at  the  wrong 
Muehlheim  ; — that  the  Muehlheim  that  I  want  is 
nearly  fifty  miles  away.  All  I  can  do  is  to  leave 
the  past  go,  (for  a  day  lost  is  never  regained) ,  and 
go  away  wiser  than  I  came. 

Finally,  one  cloudy,  lowering  morning,  I  come 
to  the  right  Muehlheim — Muehlheim  on  the 
Buhr,  farther  down  the  Bhine,  and  north  of 
Duesseldorf.  It  is  a  town  of  22,000,  situated  in 
the  Westphalian  coal  district,  which  is  filled  with 
mines,  manufactories  and  foundries.   Essen,  seven 


204  RAMBLES    ROUND 

miles  away,  is  where  Herr  Krupp  makes  for 
Germany  the  arms  and  cannons  that  shake  the 
world.  But  from  Muehlheim  went  forth  an  in- 
fluence greater  than  war,  the  influence  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  which  shook  all  western  Germany, 
and  reached  to  lands  beyond.  Passing  the  city 
church,  beside  which  is  a  statue  of  Tersteegen,  I 
come  to  his  cottage,  a  plain  wooden  building  with 
an  ancient  roof.  The  door  is  open,  so  I  enter. 
The  building  appears  as  if  tenanted  by  several 
families.  I  knock  at  the  first  door,  but  get  no 
answer.  Then  I  climb  the  plain  rude  stairs  and 
meet  a  woman  on  the  second  floor.  I  ask  her 
whether  Tersteegen  had  lived  here.  She  pauses, 
thinks  a  moment,  and  replies  that  she  does  not 
know  any  one  living  there  by  that  name.  "No," 
I  reply,  "  he  used  to  live  here."  Again  she 
thinks,  but  says  that  nobody  by  that  name  had 
lived  tliere  since  she  had ;  he  must  have  lived 
there  before  her  time.  "  Oh,  yes,"  I  reply,  "  he 
lived  here  a  century  ago."  "Oh,"  she  says, 
"then  I  don't  know  anything  about  him.  You 
must  go  to  the  gentleman  who  lives  next  door. 
He  owns  the  house  and  can  tell  you  all  about 
it."  So  to  the  gentleman  next  door  who  kept  a 
small  store,  I  go.     He  proves  to  be  a  relative  of 


REFORMED    LANDS.  205 

Tersteegen,  and  shows  me  some  relics  of  him,  as 
his  knife.  I  ask  him  which  was  the  room  in 
which  Tersteegen  used  to  hold  his  prayer  meet- 
ings. He  replies  that  it  was  on  the  second  story- 
back,  a  room  that  has  small  panes  of  glass.  So 
back  to  the  house  to  seek  this  room  I  go  again 
alone.  By  some  inadvertence  I  climb  to  the 
third  story,  instead  of  the  second,  where  a  man, 
who  lives  there,  comes  out  of  his  door  and  looks 
at  me  as  an  intruder,  if  not  a  robber.  I  beat  a 
hasty  retreat  down  again  to  the  second  floor, 
where  I  again  meet  the  woman  with  whom  I  had 
the  first  conversation.  I  tell  her  which  room  I 
want  to  see,  and  she  shows  it  to  me.  There  in 
the  back  part  of  the  house  is  a  room  seating 
about  fifty,  perhaps  more.  Probably  in  crowded 
times  the  entries  and  stairways  were  full  of  ear- 
nest worshippers.  It  is  only  a  small  room, 
but  from  that  room  went  forth  an  influence  a 
century  ago  that  quickened  Germany  and  Hol- 
land ;  yes,  touched  our  own  land,  and  whose  in- 
fluence remains  to  this  day. 

Who  was  Tersteegen  ?  Gerhard  Tersteegen 
was  born  at  Meurs  in  1697,  but  in  early  life 
came  to  Muehlheim.  Untereyck  as  early  as 
1665  had  started  prayer  meetings  here  and  given 


20B  RAMBLES    ROUND 

a  pietistic  tinge  to  the  religion  of  the  people. 
Tersteegen's  religious  soul  opened  quickly  to 
these  influences.  But  for  five  years  he  was  un- 
der conviction  for  sin,  before  he  saw  the  light. 
But  one  day  sweet  peace  came  to  his  heart,  when 
it  is  supposed  he  wrote  in  his  own  blood  the 
dedication  that  is  found  in  his  works.  He  did 
not  become  a  minister,  but  remained  working  at 
his  trade,  which  was  silk-weaving.  He  worked 
ten  hours  at  the  loom,  spent  two  hours  in  prayer, 
and  after  a  while  spent  whole  nights  in  prayer. 
He  gave  up  his  trade,  so  as  to  minister  in  spir- 
itual things  to  those  who  came  to  see  him.  Hav- 
ing obtained  some  knowledge  of  medicine,  he 
aided  the  body  as  well  as  the  soul.  When  some 
opposition  was  made  to  him,  because  he  as  a 
layman  had  no  right  to  hold  religious  services, 
he  demanded  an  interview  with  the  clergy  of 
his  town,  and  so  justified  himself  in  their  eyes 
that  they  never  allowed  him  to  be  interfered  with. 
Here  for  thirty  years  he  held  his  prayer  meetings 
and  preached  and  taught  out  of  the  Word  of  God. 
The  number  who  flocked  to  him  for  counsel  was 
sometimes  so  great  that  there  would  be  twenty  or 
thirty  persons  waiting  in  the  outer  room  to  see 
him.     His  meetings  were  attended  by  as    many 


REFORMED    LANDS.  207 

as  could  crowd  into  his  room,  yes  into  his  house. 
People  came  from  distant  lands  to  hear  him.  Sick 
23eople  would  send  for  him,  and  he  would  sj^end 
whole  hours,  yes,  nights  at  their  bedside.  Some- 
times when  he  went  to  a  neighboring  land,  as 
Holland,  In  order  to  rest,  the  people  would  watch 
for  him  by  the  roadside  and  carry  him  off  to  the 
nearest  barn,  where  a  congregation  would  imme- 
diately assemble,  (so  great  was  his  fame),  in  order 
to  hear  him  preach. 

Tersteegen  had  a  wide  correspondence  with 
Christian  people  of  many  lands.  He  also 
wrote  poems  and  hymns.  One  of  the  hyms  he 
composed  is  that  solemn  revival  hymn,  "  God 
calling  yet,  shall  I  not  hear  ?"  Its  last  verse  was 
a  type  of  his  character : 

*'God  calliug  yet,  I  cannot  stay. 

My  heart  I  yield  without  delay. 
Vain  world,  farewell,  from  thee  I  part, 

The  voice  of  God  hath  reached  my  heart." 

He  was  a  most  consecrated  man,  a  pietist,  and 
a  revivalist  in  our  Reformed  Church  a  hundred 
years  ago.  He  is  dead,  but  his  influence  still 
rests  on  northwestern  Germany,  and  wherever 
his  book,  "The  Spiritual  Flower   Garden,"  is 


208  KAMBLES    ROUND 

read.  Prayer  meetings  and  quiet  I'evival  ser- 
vices are  not  foreign  to  our  Reformed  Church. 
She  had  them  from  her  beginning — from  Lasco, 
Untereyck,  Lampe,  Neander,  Tersteegen.  They 
are  part  of  her  genius  and  history.  She  owes 
much  to  them.  They  saved  her  from  formalism. 
They  are  her  hope  for  the  future.  O  that  God 
would  again  breathe  His  Spirit  in  pentecostal 
shower  on  our  Reformed  Church,  as  He  has  in 
days  past. 

Leaving  Muehlheim,  it  is  but  a  short  journey 
to  Kaiserswerth,  northwest  of  it,  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine.  Its  railroad  station  is  Kal- 
cum,  where  there  is  nothing  but  a  house  in  the 
woods.  As  I  have  only  about  two  and  a  half 
hours  until  my  train  leaves,  I  am  anxious  to 
waste  no  time.  Kaiserswerth  is  two  miles  off. 
I  ask  for  a  horse  or  carriage,  but  there  is  none 
to  be  had.  There  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  walk. 
So,  leaving  my  baggage  at  the  railroad  station,  I 
start  out  alone,  across  the  fiat  plain  along  the 
lower  Rhine.  The  rain  has  been  falling.  But, 
as  I  walk  through  the  green  fields,  and  along 
the  road  shaded  often  by  high  trees,  the  sun 
comes  out  between  the  clouds,  and  it  is  a  glori- 
ous afternoon.     Three-quarters  of  an  hour  of  the 


REFORMED    LANDS.  209 

little  time  at  my  disposal  is  spent  in  walking  to 
the  place.  Then,  finally,  the  little  town  of  Kai- 
serswerth  is  reached.  All  around  me  are  the 
buildings  of  the  deaconess  institution.  There 
are  so  many  of  them  that  it  seems  to  me  there 
could  have  been  very  little  of  a  town  here  before 
the  institutions  were  founded.  Having  arranged 
for  a  carriage  to  take  me  back  to  the  railroad 
station,  I  now  give  myself  up  to  the  study  of  the 
deaconess  work. 

To  this  little  village  there  came  in  1822  a 
young  man  named  Theodore  Fliedner,  a  Re- 
formed minister.  Kaiserswerth  is  a  Catholic 
settlement.  The  young  pastor  has  a  member- 
ship of  only  200  out  of  a  population  of  1,800,  so 
that  he  had  ample  time  to  devote  to  other  work. 
He  had  not  been  there  a  month,  when  the  velvet 
manufactory,  which  supported  the  town,  failed ; 
and  his  congregation,  composed  mainly  of  its 
workmen,  threatened  to  disintegrate.  So  he 
started  out  on  a  collecting  tour  through  Holland 
and  England.  But  the  money  he  collected  and 
brought  back,  though  sufficient  for  the  church, 
was  the  least  result  of  his  tour.  He  had  visited 
hospitals  and  prisons  while  away,  and  his  great 
heart  went  out  in   sympathy  beyond  his  little 


210  EAMBLES    ROUND 

parish.  The  prisons  of  Germany  were  in  a  sad 
state  at  that  time.  He  became  the  John  How- 
ard of  Germany,  seeking  to  save  the  prisoners. 
He  determined  to  do  something,  at  least,  for  the 
spiritual  wants  of  the  prisoners.  So  he  began 
preaching  in  the  prison  at  Dnesseldorf,  three 
miles  away.  He  travelled  in  England  a  second 
time  in  the  interest  of  prison  reform. 

But  one  September  day  in  1833,  there  came 
to  his  parsonage  at  Kaiserswerth  a  discharged 
prisoner  named  Minna.  She  wanted  to  return 
to  a  right  life  again,  but  the  world  had  shut  it- 
self against  her.  So  she  came  to  him.  Where 
could  he  T)ut  her  ?  There  was  no  room  for  her 
in  the  little  parsonage.  He  gave  her  an  asylum 
in  the  small  summer  house,  twelve  feet  square, 
in  his  garden.  That  little  summer  house  was 
the  beginning  of  his  great  work.  Soon  a  house 
was  purchased  as  an  asylum  for  reforming  23ris- 
oners. 

The  next  thought  of  this  large-hearted  man 
was  for  the  children.  His  district  was  a  manu- 
facturing one,  and,  while  the  parents  were  away 
from  home,  busy  working  in  the  mills,  the  child- 
ren, uncared  for,  would  get  into  bad  company,  or 
were  locked   up  at  home.     So  his  now  empty 


REFORMED    LANDS.  211 

garden  house  became  a  children's  home,  until  a 
house  was  found  for  them. 

Then  his  heart  began  to  ache  for  the  sick. 
Many  towns  had  no  hospitals,  and  where  there 
were  hospitals,  he  had  seen  the  sick  often  un- 
cared  for.  He  began  to  see  the  need  of  trained 
Christian  nurses  who  could  care  for  the  body, 
and  the  soul  as  well.  But  he  felt  that  Kaisers- 
werth  was  too  much  of  a  country  town  for  such 
an  institution,  and  he  tried  to  get  his  brethren 
in  larger  cities  to  start  a  house  of  training  dea- 
conesses (for  he  believed  in  reviving  the  Scriptural 
office  of  deaconess) .  But  all  his  efforts  were  in 
vain. 

One  day  the  largest  house  in  his  little  village 
came  into  the  market  for  sale.  He  had  no 
money,  yet  he  bought  it  on  faith.  The  people 
of  the  place  looked  with  amazement.  Village 
gossi^^s  said  a  new  manufacturer  was  coming. 
When  it  was  known  that  he  proposed  to  turn  it 
into  a  hospital  to  train  nurses,  the  people  rose 
against  it,  the  physicians  opposed  it,  and  the 
town  officers  waited  on  him  to  influence  him  to 
give  up  his  plan.  When  it  was  known  that 
these  nurses  were  to  be  deaconesses,  the  Catho- 
lics laughed  at  him  and  predicted  failure.    They 


212  RAMBLES    ROUND 

said  as  these  ladies  have  no  vows  of  chastity  or 
poverty,  the  whole  movement  will  go  to  pieces. 
But  the  man  of  faith  jDcrsevered  and  overcame 
all  opposition,  and  brought  success  out  of  ftiilure. 
And  his  first  year  closed  with  forty  sick  in  the 
hospital,  and  seven  deaconesses  in  the  institu- 
tion. 

But  Fliedner  also  saw  that  there  was  great 
need  in  German  schools  for  Christian  teachers. 
Many  of  the  teachers  were  rationalists,  and  he 
felt  it  important  to  educate  teachers  who  were 
Christians.  He  determined  to  train  his  deacon- 
esses as  teachers,  as  well  as  nurses.  At  first 
there  was  great  prejudice  against  ladies  as  teach- 
ers. But  the  government  finally  sanctioned 
their  employment,  and  about  a  thousand  teach- 
ers have  been  sent  out.  There  are  thus  two 
kinds  of  deaconesses,  nurses  and  teachers. 

These  deaconesses  are  not  nuns.  They  take 
no  vow  of  chastity.  They  can  marry  when  they 
desire,  provided  they  give  notice,  so  that  their 
worlv  is  not  hampered  by  their  withdrawal. 
They  are  simply  consecrated  women,  whose  aim 
is  to  work  for  Christ  and  lead  others  to  Him. 
And  Fliedner's  movement  at  once  became  a  suc- 
cess.    It  met  a  felt  need  of  our  times.     The  re- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  213 

suit  has  been  that  the  world  responded  to  it,  and 
deaconess  houses  have  sprung  up  all  over  Eu- 
rope, in  Holland,  Switzerland,  France,  Sweden, 
England  and  America.  It  is  said  there  were  59 
of  them  in  Europe.  There  are  now  600  work- 
ing in  connection  with  Kaiserswerth,  and  its 
hospital  cares  for  5,000  patients  every  year. 

In  addition  to  these  institutions  there  are  at 
Kaiserswerth  a  lunatic  asylum,  a  Magdalen  asy- 
lum, a  home  for  the  aged,  and  others.  They 
have  in  Berlin  a  home  for  servants,  and  also 
deaconess  houses  in  Jerusalem,  Smyrna,  Alex- 
andria and  Florence. 

As  I  go  through  the  hospital,  under  the 
guidance  of  one  of  the  deaconesses,  I  pause  in 
the  men's  room.  Many  of  them  look  as  if 
they  had  little  or  no  religious  influence  or  train- 
ing. As  we  go  out,  a  deaconess  comes  in.  As 
we  pass  the  door  of  the  room  a  few  moments 
later,  I  hear  her  voice  in  prayer  and  singing 
among  them.  What  a  blessing  such  a  service 
must  have  been  to  them.  "  Do  you  pray  ?"  asked 
a  deaconess  of  a  girl  of  sixteen  who  had  come  in. 
"What  is  that?"  she  said,  and  stared.  "Pray? 
I  don't  know  what  that  is."  A  poor  woman 
complained  that  she  had  gone  to  so  many   doc- 


;214  RAMBLES    ROUND 

tors,  and  all  to  no  purpose.  "Have  you  gone 
to  the  right,  the  good  physician?"  asked  the 
deaconess.  These  examples  reveal  their  blessed 
opportunities  and  influence. 

In  common  with  many  of  my  Protestant 
brethren  I  had  been  shy  of  deaconesses  as  savor- 
ing of  Catholicism.  But  my  obstacles  went  to 
the  winds  as  I  saw  their  work  at  Kaiserswerth. 
In  heathen  lands,  especially  in  the  Orient,  at 
Beirout  and  Jerusalem,  there  is  no  mightier 
agency  for  Christ  than  these  deaconesses.  They 
have  nursed  to  Christ  many  a  soul  which  other- 
wise would  have  opposed  Him. 

All  honor  to  Fliedner  and  his  work.  Christi- 
anity has  discovered  the  value  of  consecrated 
womanhood.  When  the  women  of  the  Church 
arise  in  their  might  to  wield  their  subtle  influ- 
ence for  Christ,  the  world  will  see  things  not 
yet  dreamed  of.  The  blue  flag  waves  over  Kai- 
serswerth,  and  wave  it  will  till  the  red  flag  of 
the  cross  will  wave  over  all  the  earth. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  215 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
Emden  and  Bremen. 

On  the  northeastern  coast  of  Germany  lie  two 
cities,  Emden  and  Bremen.  North  Germany  is 
Lutheran,  but  these  two  cities  are  two  lighthouses 
of  the  Reformed  faith,  placed  on  this  northern 
coast.  Both  were  free  cities -in  the  days  of  the 
Reformation,  and  being  free  to  choose  their  own 
religion,  they  chose  the  Reformed  rather  than 
the  Lutheran. 

The  country  in  North  Germany  is  flat  and  the 
scenery  uninteresting.  No  elevations  arrest  the 
eye,  nothing  but  avenues  of  trees  or  masts  of  ves- 
sels rising  out  of  the  sand  or  the  fields.  Emden 
is  a  little  Dutch  town  in  Germany.  It  occupies 
a  corner  of  the  Fatherland  rarely  visited  by  the 
traveller,  and  is  a  very  quaint  old  town  of  13,- 
000  inhabitants.  It  reminds  one  of  Holland. 
Indeed,  its  inhabitants  are  closely  related  to  the 
Dutch.  In  its  streets  are  canals,  and  sailing- 
vessels  come  into  the  very  centre  of  the  town, 
their   masts  rising  in  strange  contrast  with  the 


216  RAMBLES    ROUND 

buildings.  The  gable  ends  of  the  houses  face 
the  street,  and  but  for  the  German  language  of 
the  people,  one  would  fancy  himself  in  Holland. 
Into  this  city,  as  early  as  1526,  there  came  a 
monk  called  Aportanus,  who  preached  the  Re- 
formation. He  created  a  stir  by  introducing  the 
Reformed  Lord's  Supper,  instead  of  the  Luther- 
an, a  thing  unheard  of  in  Germany  at  that  time. 
So  Emden  and  the  county  of  East  Friesland,  to 
which  it  belonged,  became  the  earliest  Reformed 
church  in  Germany. 

Seventeen  years  afterwards  the  great  Polish 
Reformer,  John  A.  Lasco,  was  made  superinten- 
dent, so  as  to  thoroughly  introduce  the  Reformed 
faith.  He  greatly  opposed  the  images  in  the 
Catholic  churches,  and  resolved  that  none  but 
biblical  ceremonies  should  be  used  in  the  service. 
He  organized  the  churches  by  appointing  four 
elders  in  each  church.  And  he  organized  the 
clergy  by  uniting  them  into  a  sort  of  synod  called 
the  Coetus.  He  labored  here  for  three  years,  and 
then  resigned  his  office  as  superintendent,  al- 
though he  still  retained  his  position  as  pastor  of 
the  old  Reformed  church.  A  leave  of  absence 
having  been  granted  him,  he  went  to  England ; 
but  when  he  returned  in  1541),  he  found  his  flock 


REFORMED    LANDS.  217 

in  a  sad  plight.  The  Emperor  of  Germany  had 
ordered  the  Interim  with  its  Catholic  ceremonies 
to  be  introduced  into  the  churches  of  Emden. 
This  the  faithful  people  would  not  hear  of.  As 
they  would  not  submit  to  these  things,  their 
church  door  was  closed  against  them.  So  they 
worshipped  in  the  graveyard  in  the  open  air, 
and  Lasco  preached  to  greater  audiences  when 
locked  out  of  the  church,  than  when  in  it.  But 
very  soon  this  faithful  shepherd  was  driven  away, 
and  he  left  a  weeping  congregation  who  bewailed 
his  departure.  The  Interim  was  afterwards  lifted, 
and  the  people  joyfully  resumed,  in  the  old 
church,  their  Reformed  worship,  which  has  not 
been  interrupted  since. 

Emden  was  always  an  asylum  for  the  Reformed 
peoj^le.  When  they  were  driven  out  of  other 
lands,  they  always  found  a  warm  welcome  here. 
Here  the  great  synod  of  the  Dutch  Church  of 
Holland  held  its  second  meeting  in  1571,  when 
exiled  from  its  own  land.  And  for  three  and  a 
half  centuries  this  Emden  church  has  retained 
the  primitive  Reformed  faith  and  customs.  It 
is  therefore  with  no  ordinary  interest  that  I  turn 
my  steps  toward  this  place.  In  no  other  city, 
except  perhaps  in  Elberfeld,  have  the  Reformed 

15 


^18  RAMBLES    KOUND 

faith  and  customs  been  so  well  preserved,  with- 
out being  influenced  by  other  denominations  or 
by  external  circumstances.  And  the  old  Coetus 
or  synod,  founded  by  Lasco  in  1544,  still  holds 
its  meetings.  It  is  the  oldest  orthodox  organiza- 
tion of  the  Reformed  Church,  being  more  than 
350  years  old.  I  happen  to  be  in  Norwa}^,  when 
I  hear  from  Dr.  Bartels  that  the  Coetus  would 
have  a  meeting  on  Tuesday,  the  2nd  of  July, 
1888.  I  had  intended  to  return  from  Norway  di- 
rect to  England.  To  go  to  the  Coetus  would  in- 
volve a  much  more  expensive  journey,  all  the 
way  round  by  Denmark,  and  also  the  travelling 
of  five  nights  in  the  cars.  But  in  spite  of  these 
difficulties,  the  temptation  is  too  great  to  be  resist- 
ed. I  determine  to  go.  After  travelling  for  well- 
nigh  a  week,  almost  night  and  day,  to  get  there, 
you  can  imagine  my  disappointment  and  chagrin, 
when  I  am  stopped  at  Munster  at  midnight  of 
Monday,  July  1st,  by  the  news  that  I  can  go  no 
farther  that  night.  But  I  reply  :  "  I  must  be  in 
Em  den  to-morrow  morning  to  attend  an  important 
meeting."  "  Can't  help  it,"  said  the  conductor, "  no 
train  will  arrive  at  Emden  until  near  noon."  Heart 
sick  that  all  my  labor  and  expense  would  prob- 
ably be  in  vain,  and  I  might  not  get  to  the  Coetus 


REFORMED    LANDS.  219 

after  all,  I  go  to  bed.  The  next  morning,  to 
hasten  matters,  I  telegraph  to  the  hotel  at  Em- 
den  to  have  a  carriage  ready  at  the  station.  How- 
ever when  one  is  in  a  difficulty,  mistakes  multi- 
ply. When  I  arrive  at  Emden,  I  find  the  hotel 
coach  there,  but  no  carriage.  I  inquire  of  the 
porter  why  no  carriage  was  sent.  "  Oh,"  he  an- 
swered, "  I  thought  the  telegram  meant  that  we 
should  send  the  omnibus  of  the  hotel."  Well, 
there  is  nothing  to  do  but  wait  ten  minutes  until 
the  bus  starts,  although  every  minute  is  valuable. 
And  of  course  the  hotel  is  at  the  other  end  of 
the  town,  and  it  seems  as  if  I  shall  never  reach 
it,  so  long  is  the  ride  to  it.  At  the  hotel  I  find 
a  note  from  Dr.  Bartels  telling  me  that  the  Coe- 
tus  meets  at  ten  a.  m.  Ten  o'clock,  and  here  it 
is  almost  twelve.  I  rush  to  the  hotel  clerk  and 
ask  him  to  send  me  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the 
Coetus.  He  sends  a  young  man  to  guide  me,  and 
we  soon  arrive  at  a  church.  But  I  find  no  one 
in  it  except  an  organist  in  the  choir  gallery.  I 
call  up  to  him  asking  whether  the  Coetus  meets 
there.  "  Coetus,"  he  rej^lies,  "  what  is  that  ?" 
Evidently  he  knows  nothing  about  it.  Another 
quarter  of  an  hour  gone.  In  despair  I  hasten  to 
the  pastor  of  that  church  for  information.     He 


220  RAMBLES    ROUND 

tells  me  that  I  have  been  sent  by  mistake  to  a 
Lutheran  church  (which  of  course  does  not  be- 
long to  the  Coetus),  and  I  hasten  at  last  to  the 
right  church.  It  is  now  twelve.  Would  the  Coe- 
tus still  be  in  session  ?  I  find  it  is,  and  when  I 
afterwards  learn  that  they  had  been  having  an 
exegesis  in  Greek  before  I  arrived,  I  am  not  so 
sorry  that  I  was  late.  When  I  arrive  at  the 
church  door,  the  sexton  tells  me  that  the  Coetus 
is  in  session  upstairs  in  the  elders'  or  presbytery 
room.  I  hurry  up  stairs  and  gently  push  the 
door  open,  intending  to  take  a  back  seat.  I 
find  myself  in  a  quaint  old-fashioned  room,  filled 
with  about  fifty  ministers,  while  upon  its  walls 
hang  the  portraits  of  the  presidents  of  the  Coetus 
during  the  last  three  centuries.  I  look  for  a  back 
seat,  but  there  is  none.  The  Germans  seem  to 
be  as  fond  of  back  seats  as  we  are  on  this  side  of 
the  water,  and  all  of  them  are  occupied.  To  my 
dismay  the  venerable  president  rises  up  as  I  enter 
and  motions  me  to  come  forward  and  take  the 
seat  of  honor  beside  him.  Seated  at  last,  I  am 
again  in  a  quandary.  The  only  minister  with 
whom  I  am  acquainted  is  Rev.  Dr.  Bartels,  one 
of  the  best  historians  of  our  Church  ;  and  I  know 
him  only    by   letter,    never    having   seen  him. 


REFOKMED    LANDS.  221 

Which  of  these  before  me  is  he  ?  In  my  hel})less- 
ness  I  ask  the  president  if  he  is  Dr.  Bartels,  but 
he  adds  to  my  dilemma  by  not  answering  me. 
In  my  helplessness  I  almost  vow  that  if  I  ever 
get  out  of  this  Coetus,  I  never  will  hunt  up  an- 
other one.  But  stop,  a  polished  scholar  rises  and 
reads  an  elaborate  paper  on  the  relations  of  the 
Coetus  to  the  Canons  of  Dort.  Then  I  know  that 
this  polished  scholar  is  my  friend,  Rev.  Dr.  Bar- 
tels. He  shows  that  while  the  rest  of  western 
Germany  became  highly  Calvinistic,  like  the 
Canons,  the  Coetus  and  the  East  Frisian  Church 
were  only  moderately  so.  And  then  when  he  is 
through,  to  complete  my  bewilderment,  they  call 
on  me  to  make  an  address  ;  and  as  not  one  of  them 
could  understand  or  interpret  English,  it  must  be 
made  in  German. 

But  notwithstanding  all  these  difficulties,  it 
must  be  confessed  that  this  visit  is  one  of  the 
most  impressive  of  my  life.  Here  I  am  in  the 
oldest  Reformed  organization  in  the  world,  three 
and  a  half  centuries  old.  The  antiquated  room, 
with  its  high-backed  seats,  with  its  portraits  of 
Lasco  and  other  Reformed  ministers,  long  since 
dead,  looking  down  upon  me,  is  a  scene  never 
to  be  forgotten.     And  the  reception  of  these  Ger- 


222  EAMBLES    ROUND 

man  brethren  is  overwhelmingly  kind.  They 
elect  me  an  associate  member  of  the  Coetus. 
This  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  no  Reformed 
minister  outside  of  Friesland  is  allowed  to  attend 
this  meeting,  much  less  to  become  a  member  of  it. 
They  make  an  exception  of  me,  perhaps,  because 
I  am  a  foreigner  from  across  the  sea,  and  will  not 
attend  often,  and  so  their  rules  will  not  be  often 
violated.  Then  they  take  me  to  their  public 
dinner  held  after  the  meeting.  They  toast  me, 
and  seem  to  outdo  even  German  hospitality. 

Dr.  Bartels  takes  me  into  the  old  Reformed 
church,  an  exceedingly  plain  building,  with  its 
plain  communion  table  and  its  quaint  old  pulpit. 
He  leads  me  through  the  streets,  showing  me 
where  Lasco  lived.  But  the  most  impressive  place 
to  me  is  the  graveyard  just  outside  of  the  church 
where  the  Reformed  people  worshipped  God 
when  the  Catholics  locked  them  out  of  the  church. 
And  old  Father  Hess,  the  senior  minister  and 
president  of  the  Coetus,  tells  me  of  the  earnest 
l^ietism  of  the  East  Frisian  Church,  and  how  it 
has  had  to  contend  against  sacramentarianism 
and  rationalism  in  the  State  Church. 

The  Coetus  is  a  combination  of  a  synod  and  a 
conference.     It  used  to  have  the  authority  of  a 


KEFOKMED    LANDS.  223 

Classis,  but  now  all  it  can  do  is  to  have  a  moral 
censorship  over  its  members.  But  it  is  largely  a 
conference  for  the  discussion  of  various  religious 
topics  that  are  brought  before  it. 

A  visit  to  Emden  is  like  a  visit  to  the  Re- 
formed church  350  years  ago,  so  quaint  is  the 
town,  so  primitive  the  church,  so  kind  the  people 
in  welcoming  one  of  like  faith  from  across  the 
seas. 

Bremen,  like  Emden,  is  situated  on  a  sandy 
plain  along  the  river  Weser.  It  was  a  wealthy 
free  city,  and  is  now  one  of  the  leading  ports  of 
Germany.  Its  population  is  112,000.  Formerly 
it  was  a  walled  city,  but  now  its  walls  have  been 
changed  into  parks  and  promenades,  and  its 
moat  into  a  lake.  The  centre  of  Bremen  has 
always  been  its  Rathhaus  or  city  hall ;  for  these 
burgers  or  citizens  were  accustomed  to  rule  the 
city  themselves,  without  the  intervention  of 
princes.  This  Rathhaus  is  a  very  antique  build- 
ing. Its  front,  with  its  Doric  columns  and  richly 
decorated  bow  window  and  gable,  make  it  an 
object  of  beauty.  Walking  through  its  great 
hall,  where  the  citizens  used  to  meet,  I  see  the 
secret  of  Bremen's  greatness.  A  fine  model  of 
a  ship  is  hung  from  the  ceiling ;  for  commerce 


224  RAMBLES    ROUND 

built  up  the  city.  Directly  opposite  the  city 
hall  is  the  old  cathedral,  whose  exterior  is  some- 
what disfigured  by  the  fall  of  the  southern  tower 
in  1638.  And  here  at  this  cathedral  our  inter- 
est begins.  After  Bremen  became  Protestant  in 
1532,  this  cathedral  was  closed  until  1547,  when 
Albert  Hardenberg  was  called  as  the  cathedral 
preacher.  His  sermons  drew  great  crowds.  But 
the  other  ministers  soon  began  to  bring  charges 
against  him,  that  he  was  not  a  true  Lutheran^ 
but  leaned  toward  Calvinism.  He,  however,  de- 
clared that  he  held  the  views  of  Melanchthon. 
So  the  feeling  ran  high.  Many  of  the  people 
sympathized  with  the  other  clergy  ;  many  sym- 
pathized with  Hardenberg,  and  among  the  latter 
Daniel  Von  Buren,  the  burgomaster. 

Finally  Hardenberg  was  forced  to  resign,  and 
he  left  the  city  ;  but  he  left  many  friends  be- 
hind him.  And  when  the  opponents  tried  to 
complete  their  work,  by  defeating  the  re-election 
of  Von  Buren  to  his  office,  his  friends  carried 
him  to  the  city  hall  in  triumph.  The  result  was 
a  reaction.  Von  Buren  came  into  power  again, 
and  he  called  in  other  ministers  who  sympa- 
thized with  Hardenberg.  Some  of  these  new 
ministers  were  Calvinists,  among  them  Bezel, 


REFORMED    LANDS.  225 

who  introduced  the  Keformed  faith  and  became 
professor  in  the  Reformed  school  founded  here. 
This  cathedral  is  now  used  as  a  Lutheran  church, 
the  other  six  churches  being  Keformed. 

But  there  are  other  churches  interesting  to  us. 
One  is  the  St.  Martin's  church.  This  church, 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  was  the 
home  of  Pietism. 

Untereyck  began  to  hold  his  prayer  meetings 
here  as  early  as  1670.  Some  have  objected  that 
prayer  meetings  and  revival  services  interfere 
with  our  time-honored  custom  of  catechisation. 
It  might  be  well  for  them  to  know  that  we 
never  would  have  had  our  custom  of  catechising 
the  youth,  if  it  had  not  been  for  prayer  meet- 
ings and  revivals.  The  catechisation  of  the  youth 
grew  out  of  these  revival  meetings.  Their  prayer 
meetings  prepared  the  way  for  catechising.  And 
they  never  had  the  rite  of  confirmation  in  Bre- 
men, until  Untereyck  prepared  the  way  for  it 
by  his  special  religious  services. 

One  day  a  young  man  came  with  some  com- 
panions to  hear  Untereyck,  but  with  the  inten- 
tion of  making  sport  of  his  earnest  pietism.  But 
the  sermon  took  hold  of  him.  His  companion 
laughed   at   his   seriousness   after   the    service. 


226  RAMBLES    ROUND 

Not  to  be  outdone,  he  went  to  the  pastor  after 
church,  to  seek  the  way  of  life.  And  Unter- 
eyck,  glad  to  meet  an  inquirer  after  church, 
pointed  him  to  the  cross  of  Christ.  This  young 
convert  became  the  great  poet  and  hymn-singer 
of  the  Reformed  Church,  Joachim  Neander. 
He  was  the  author  of  that  greatest  of  our  Re- 
formed hymns  of  Germany  :  "Lobe  den  Herrn, 
den  allmsechtigen  Koenig." 

"  Praise  to  the  Lord,  He  is  king  over  all  creation  ! 
Praise  to  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  as  the  God  of  salvation  ! 
Join  in  the  song,  psaltery  and  harp  roll  along ; 
Praise  in  your  solemn  vibration." 

Before  his  time  the  Reformed  had  sung  mainly 
psalms.  His  new  spiritual  hymns  created  al- 
most as  much  excitement  as  the  introduction  of 
the  Moody  and  Sankey  hymns  did  among  us 
some  years  ago.  But  his  hymns  were  greatly 
blessed  to  our  Church  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 
He  was  afterward  called  to  be  pastor  of  this  very 
church  at  Bremen,  in  which  he  had  been  con- 
verted. But  he  lived  only  a  year  after  that,  and 
then  this  sweet  singer  of  Israel  went  to  join  the 
great  choir  around  the  throne  in  heaven. 

But  though  the  workers  die,  the  work  itself 
goes  on.     And  God  raised  up  Frederick  Lampe, 


REFOKMED    LANDS.  227 

the  greatest  theologian  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church  after  the  Keformation — the  leader  of  the 
pietists  and  revivalists.  For  eleven  years,  from 
1709  to  1720,  he  preached  in  St.  Stephen's 
church  at  Bremen  with  great  power  and  bless- 
ing. So  great  did  his  fame  become,  that  he  was 
called  to  be  professor  of  theology  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Utrecht,  in  Holland ;  then,  perhaps,  the 
highest  position  in  the  gift  of  the  Reformed 
Church.  But  he  was  re-called  as  pastor  of  the 
St.  Ansgari  church  in  Bremen  in  1727,  and  also 
as  professor  in  the  Reformed  theological  school 
at  Bremen.  However,  he  was  permitted  to  la- 
ber  only  two  years,  and  then  he  died.  He  it 
was  who  wrote  a  famous  commentary  on  our  Hei- 
delberg Catechism,  called  the  "  Milk  of  Truth." 
Thus  Bremen  and  Muehlheim  were  the  two 
centres  of  pietism  in  Germany,  from  which  great 
and  gracious  influences  went  forth  all  over  the 
Church. 

Alas  for  Bremen  to-day.  The  j)eople  are 
largely  rationalistic.  Although  there  are  most 
earnest  preachers  there,  yet  rationalism  prevails. 
In  the  pulpit  where  Hardenberg  preached, 
Schram  denies  the  divinity  of  our  Saviour  ;  and 
in  the  church  where_  Untereyck  and  Neander  so 


228  KAMBLES    ROUND 

earnestly  preached,  Schwalbe,  a  blatant  ration- 
alist, declaims.  But  among  the  evangelical  pas- 
tors of  Bremen,  Funcke  stands  as  the  most 
prominent.  He  is  the  author  of  a  number  of 
pleasing  books,  mainly  on  travel, — a  pleasing 
writer  and  an  eloquent  preacher  who  boldly  de- 
fends the  truth  of  Christ  against  error.  While 
we  mourn  these  falls,  let  us  rejoice  in  the  bold- 
ness of  those  who  maintain  the  truth. 


REFORMED   LANDS.  229 


CHAPTER    XV  II  I. 

Central  Germany. 

A  country  town  situated  in  a  rich  farming  dis- 
trict, but  surrounded  by  magnificent  parks  and 
commanding  hills,  is  Detmold,  the  capital  of  the 
little  principality  of  Lippe-Detmold.  It  is  a 
little  land,  but  rich  and  thoroughly  Reformed, 
its  prince  being  one  of  the  richest  nobles  of  Ger- 
many. As  a  result,  taxes  are  very  light  and  his 
people  happy  ;  for  Germans,  like  Americans,  are 
not  fond  of  paying  taxes.  It  is  a  surprise  to  find 
so  large  a  city  in  so  rural  a  district,  for  the  city 
has  8,000  inhabitants  and  the  land  116,000,  of 
whom  112,000  are  Reformed.  In  the  centre  of 
the  town  is  the  plain,  unpretending  old  Reformed 
church,  as  plain  within  as  without.  Near  it,  in 
contrast  with  its  plainness,  is  the  rich  palace  of 
the  wealthy  prince,  with  an  immense  round  tower, 
like  that  of  the  queen  of  England  at  Windsor 
near  London.  The  palace  gardens  are  made 
beautiful  with  fountains,  and  the  stables  of  the 
prince  contain  the  famous  Senner,  an  Arab  breed 
of  horses. 


230  EAMBLES    ROUND 

Although  the  people  have  long  ago  thrown 
their  idols  away,  yet  a  colossal  image  overlooks 
the  town  as  its  patron  saint.  It  is  the  statue  of 
Arminius.  "  What,"  I  ask,  "  how  can  Arminius 
rule  in  such  a  Reformed  land  ?  There  should  be 
no  Arminians  here.  A  monument  to  Calvin 
would  be  more  appropriate  in  such  a  Reformed 
country."  But  I  am  told  that  this  Arminius  was 
not  the  theologian  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who 
so  severely  opposed  the  Calvinism  of  his  day  ;  but 
that  he  was  a  German  chieftain  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, who  A.  D.  9  called  together  the  Cherusci, 
a  German  tribe,  and  put  to  flight  the  Roman  ar- 
my. The  Roman  legions  were  seldom  defeated. 
Hence  the  significance  and  grandeur  of  this  vic- 
tory. The  great  Augustus,  when  he  heard  of 
the  defeat  of  his  army,  cried  out,  "  Varus,  Varus, 
give  me  back  my  legions,"  but  his  brave  General 
Varus  was  no  more.  So  this  place  marks  the 
first  battle  for  Germany's  freedom,  which  finally 
found  its  completion  in  1870,  under  Emperor 
William. 

I  conclude  to  pay  my  respects  to  the  colossal 
statue  on  the  mountain  top,  and  I  hire  a  carriage. 
Through  leafy  and  thick  forests  I  am  driven  up 
a  winding  road,  until  I  stand  in  front  of  this  mag- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  231 

nificent  statue  in  honor  of  Arminius,  the  man  who 
could  defeat  Rome.  On  the  top  of  this  moun- 
tain, which  is  1100  feet  high,  rises  this  statue, 
186  feet  higher.  It  represents  the  German  war- 
rior with  raised  sword.  The  pedestal  is  100  feet 
high,  the  statue  50,  and  the  sword,  lifted  high 
above  his  head,  36  feet  higher.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  commanding  statues  of  Europe.  It  over- 
looks a  wide  area  of  mountains  and  fields,  and 
with  its  face  Homeward,  seems  to  say,  "  Thus  far 
have  ye  come,  but  no  farther." 

Returning  from  Arminius,  I  hunt  for  the  Cal- 
vinists,  and  call  on  Rev.  Mr.  Theleman,  the  con- 
sistorialrath  of  the  Reformed  Church.  Although 
I  am  a  stranger  to  him,  he  receives  me  very  cor- 
dially and  tells  me  how,  when  he  first  entered  the 
ministry  in  this  county,  its  ministers  were  over- 
whelmingly rationalistic ;  now  there  are  almost 
no  rationalists,  but  all  evangelical  and  Reformed. 
He  does  not  say,  but  I  surmise  from  what  he  says, 
that  this  change  has  been  brought  about  very 
largely  through  his  influence  and  work,  and  his 
present  'prominent  position  as  head  of  the  Church 
was  a  recognition  of  his  valuable  services.  He 
has  published  a  life  of  the  great  Reformed  theo- 
logian  and  pietist  Lampe ;    and   also   lately  a 


232  RAMBLES    ROUND 

commentary  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  which 
is  designed  to  ground  the  ministry  of  this  land  in 
the  evangelical  faith  and  the  Reformed  doctrines. 

Passing  southeast  from  Lippe,  we  come  to  the 
country  of  Hesse-Cassel,  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant in  central  Germany.  It  is  interesting  to 
know  that  the  Reformed  Church  had  its  Lu- 
ther, too.  Luther  nailed  up  his  theses  on  the 
church  door  at  Wittenberg.  Just  nine  years 
later  a  French  monk  nailed  up  his  theses  on  the 
church  door  of  Homberg  in  Hesse,  and  this  in- 
troduced the  reformation  into  Hesse-Cassel.  A 
self-conceited  priest  got  on  a  stool  to  read  these 
theses  and  deny  them ;  but  he  made  such  poor 
work  of  it  that  the  people  laughed  at  him, 
and  knocked  the  stool  from  under  him,  and  he 
fell  flat  on  the  ground.  But  Hesse  read  them 
better  than  he  did,  as  it  read  Catholicism  out 
of  the  land.  Franz  Lambert,  who  nailed  these 
theses  on  the  church  door,  became  a  follower  of 
Zwingli. 

Hesse-Cassel  now  has  a  population  of  380,000 
Reformed  people.  But  the  Reformed  of  Hesse, 
surrounded  as  they  are  by  Lutheran  states,  are 
less  entirely  Reformed  in  doctrine  and  cultus  than 
the  lands  west  of  them.     And  to-day,  through 


EEFOKMED    LANDS.  233 

the  efforts  of  the  state,  the  Church  has  become 
largely  Lutheranized.  But  there  are  still  mauy 
faithful  Reformed  to  be  found  there. 

Cassel,  a  city  of  60,000,  the  capital  of  Hesse, 
is  one  of  the  most  beautifully  located  cities  in 
Germany.  On  the  east  the  winding  Fulda 
river  flows  gracefully  beside  the  city.  On  the 
west  is  the  exquisite  park  of  Wilhelmshoehe  on 
the  heights.  I  start  out  to  see  the  town,  and 
very  soon  find  myself  at  the  cathedral  church 
■of  the  town,  the  St.  Martin's  church,  fronting  on 
^n  open  square.  From  being  a  Catholic  church 
it  was  made  into  a  Reformed,  and  is  the  royal 
church  where  the  prince  worships.  It  is  a  plain 
Gothic  structure,  but  contains  in  it  a  fine  monu- 
ment of  Landgrave  Phillip,  the  Magnanimous, 
who  died  in  1567.  This  monument,  reaching  to 
the  roof,  is  made  of  black  marble,  with  white  re- 
lief and  profuse  gilding,  and  represents  the 
resurrection.  I  ask  the  sexton  whether  the 
church  had  gone  into  the  Evangelical  or  United 
Church  of  Germany.  "No,"  he  says,  "we  are 
Reformed,"  I  hear  pastor  Wolf  deliver  one  of  the 
finest  prayer  meeting  discourses  that  I  ever  heard 
in  Germany,  on  a  Wednesday  evening.  Af- 
16 


234  RAMBLES    ROUND 

ter  the  service  I  introduced  myself  to  him,  and 
he,  too,  is  strong  in  his  Keformed  sympathies. 

The  churches  of  Cassel  have  three  superinten- 
dents, a  Reformed,  a  Lutheran,  and  an  Evangel- 
ical. So  the  attempted  union  of  the  Reformed 
and  Lutheran  in  1817  only  resulted  in  forming 
a  new  denomination,  the  Evangelical. 

Cassel  rejoices  in  a  fine  picture  gallery,  with 
some  famous  pictures.  But  finer  than  art  is  na- 
ture's picture  around  the  city.  The  eastern  part 
of  it,  lying  along  the  river,  is  a  beautiful  park^ 
called  "  Die  Aue,"  the  Green,  which  is  dotted  with 
buildings,  an  orangerie  and  a  marble  bath.  Cas- 
sel received  about  20,000  French  refugees,  whom 
Louis  the  Fourteenth  had  driven  out ;  many  of 
whom  settled  in  the  city  and  built  up  the  new 
l^art  of  the  town.  And  one  of  these,  with  ex- 
quisite French  taste,  laid  out  this  Aue  or  park 
along  the  riverside. 

But  the  gem  of  Cassel  is  the  park  of  Wil- 
helmshoehe,  or  William's  Heights,  which  was  first 
laid  out  by  one  of  these  French  landscape  gar- 
deners. It  was  begun  about  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century  and  has  been  improved 
by  various  princes  up  to  the  present  time.  Its 
many  acres  are  covered  by  dense  forests,  pene- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  235 

trated  by  fine  roads  and  beautified  by  magnifi- 
cent fountains.  At  the  top  of  its  highest  liill, 
1360  feet  liigh,  commanding  a  fine  view,  is  an 
eight-cornered  building,  from  which  descend  a 
series  of  steps  for  900  feet.  These  form  beauti- 
ful cascades  when  the  water  flows  over  them. 
Further  down  the  hillside  is  the  great  fountain 
which  sends  up  a  jet  of  water  to  a  height  of  200 
feet.  This  fountain  plays  only  on  certain  days. 
But  I  am  fortunate  enough  to  be  there  on  one  of 
those  days.  Quite  a  large  crowd  gathers  to  see 
and  watch  the  fountains  play.  At  the  appoint- 
ed time  the  great  fountain  sends  up  a  stream  of 
white  foam  into  the  air.  This  fills  up  the  lake 
at  its  side  to  overflowing,  and  then  begins  the 
mad  rush  of  the  crowd  to  follow  the  waters  down 
the  hill  to  other  cascades  and  waterfalls.  I  do 
not  at  first  comprehend  what  the  people  are  run- 
ning for  ;  but  as  most  people  run  when  they  don't 
know  what  they  are  running  for,  I  go  with  the 
crowd,  until  we  all  come  to  an  acqueduct  further 
down  the  hill.  We  have  outstri^^ped  the  water. 
It  has  not  yet  arrived.  But  in  a  few  moments 
the  water  fills  up  the  acqueduct,  so  tlmt  it  flows 
over  its  side,  making  another  fine  waterfall. 
AVilhelmshoehe  is  a  beautiful  park,    worthy 


236  EAMBLE8    ROUND 

of  SO  great  a  prince  as  the  landgrave  of  Hesse. 
Here  the  third  Napoleon  was  confined  as  a  pri- 
soner, after  the  Franco-Prussian  war.  Verily 
most  men  would  be  glad  to  be  confined  in  such 
a  prison.  Such  a  prison  would  be  a  paradise  to 
them.  Here  poor  Napoleon,  like  our  first  parents 
in  their  paradise  in  Eden,  fell  and  lost  his  crown. 
Yet  it  is  one  of  the  strange  revenges  of  history, 
that  he  should  be  confined  in  a  park  laid  out  by 
one  of  the  refugees  whom  his  predecessor,  Louis 
XIV.,  drove  out,  because  he  was  a  Protestant. 
"The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slowly,  but  they 
grind  exceeding  fine." 

Northeast  of  Gassel  is  Magdeburg,  once  the 
seat  of  an  archbishop,  but  whose  yoke  the  people 
threw  off  in  1524,  to  become  Lutheran ;  and  it 
has  since  been  one  of  the  strongholds  of  Lutlier- 
anism  in  Germany,  Nevertheless,  there  are  three 
Reformed  congregations  in  it  with  a  combined 
membership  of  over  6,000.  Their  presence  in 
such  a  strong  Lutheran  city  came  about  thus : 
The  sack  of  Magdeburg  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  was  so  famous  that  it  made  its  author, 
Tilly,  the  Austrian  general,  forever  infamous, 
as  he  butchered  men,  women  and  children  after 
thev  had   surrendered.      This  massacre  sent  a 


EEFOKMED    LANDS.  2o7 

thrill  of  horror  through  all  Protestant  lands,  and 
told  them  what  to  expect  from  Rome.  This 
turned  the  tide  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  and 
saved  Protestantism  in  Gei'many. 

To  this  city  came,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  a  colony  of  French  refu- 
gees, Magdeburg,  although  more  than  a  half 
century  had  elapsed  since  its  sack  in  1681,  had 
not  yet  revived  ;  and  there  were  so  many  vacant 
houses  and  unused  churches,  that,  as  one  writer 
says,  there  was  room  for  30,000  French  emi- 
grants to  come  and  settle.  The  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg sought  to  people  these  ruins  again,  so 
he  invited  these  Frenchmen.  They  came  and 
held  their  first  service  in  the  roofless,  window- 
less  Gangolph  Chapel.  This  French  colony 
soon  became  quite  strong,  indeed  requiring  the 
services  of  three  pastors.  They  were  joined,  in 
1697,  by  a  Walloon  colony,  who,  taking  their 
whole  congregation,  pastor  and  all,  fled  from 
Manheim,  because  of  the  persecutions  of  the 
Catholic  Elector  of  the  Palatinate.  They  were 
followed  by  other  Palatines  who  were  driven 
out  of  their  land,  and  settled  here,  thus  forming 
a  large  German  church.  The  French  church  is 
now  served  by   Rev.   Henri  Tollin,   one  of  the 


238  RAMBLES    ROUND 

finest  specimens  of  a  French  Christian  gentle- 
man that  it  lias  ever  been  my  pleasure  to  meet. 
He  is  also  tlie  historian  of  the  French  churches 
in  Germany,  He  received  me  very  kindly  with 
true  French  hospitality. 

After  a  delightful  stay  with  pastor  Tollin,  I 
hurry  away  to  visit  Halle,  to  the  southeast. 
Halle  is  an  older  looking  town  than  Magdeburg. 
Its  salt  works  originally  made  it  famous,  but  now 
it  is  a  city  of  71,000.  Leaving  the  cars,  I  hire 
a  carriage  to  take  me  to  the  Moritzburg,  a  hill 
on  the  borders  of  the  river  Saale.  Here  stands 
a  ruin  of  the  old  castle  of  the  princes  of  Bran- 
denburg. In  a  room  of  this  castle  Elector  Sigis- 
mund,  on  becoming  of  age  in  1593,  was  required 
by. his  father  to  take  a  solemn  oath  never  to 
leave  the  Lutheran  faith.  But  he  afterward 
broke  his  oath  by  leaving  the  Lutherans  and 
becoming  Beformed.  This  he  could  do  the 
more  easily,  because  one  of  his  ancestors  before 
him,  in  order  to  become  a  Lutheran,  had  broken 
his  oath  to  remain  Catholic. 

From  this  castle,  in  which  Sigismund  took 
his  oath,  I  hasten  to  the  "Dom"  or  Cathedral; 
lor  although  the  city  is  Lutheran,  by  a  strange 
contradiction,    its    Cathedral    is  Reformed.     It 


REFORMED    LANDS.  239 

came  about  in  this  way.  After  the  princes  of 
Brandenburg  became  Reformed,  they  had  Re- 
formed worship  in  the  chapel  in  the  palace. 
But  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
had  driven  so  many  Reformed  from  France,  the 
Elector  allowed  many  of  them  to  settle  at  Halle  ; 
iind  as  the  congregation  became  too  large  for  the 
little  royal  chapel,  royal  service  was  held  in  the 
Magdalene  chapel.  But  the  people  of  the  town 
did  not  take  to  these  refugees,  who  were  of  a 
different  faith.  In  1695  there  appeared  a  parody 
on  the  Reformed  catechism,  which,  however,  by 
order  of  the  Prince,  was  publicly  burned. 

The  Cathedral  was  always  the  place  where  the 
prince  worshipped,  and  as  he  was  Reformed,  he 
gave  it  to  these  Frenchmen,  because  they  had 
outgrown  their  former  place  of  worshi}).  It  is 
a  plain  old  building,  presided  over  by  several 
pastors,  of  whom  Rev.  Dr.  Gobel  is  the  most 
prominent. 

But  Halle  is  famous  for  its  university.  Around 
it  memories  of  Tholuck  and  Julius  Mueller  still 
hang.  The  relation  of  this  university  to  our 
Reformed  peoj^le  is  very  interesting  in  these 
days  when  the  Reformed  have  no  universities 
any  more  in  Germany.     The  foundation  of  the 


240  RAMBLES    ROUND 

university  was  a  Reformed  high  school  of  the 
French,  called  the  La-Fleurs  Academy.  It  had 
a  Reformed  professor  of  theology  to  train  pas- 
tors for  French  churches.  And  when  the  Elec- 
tor, in  1694,  established  his  university  (as  the 
outgrowth  of  this  school),  he  gave  certain  privi- 
leges to  Reformed  students  in  it.  The  origin 
of  this  universitv  is  sienificant  to  us.  When 
Spener,  the  leader  of  the  Pietists  in  the  Lutheran 
Church,  was  driven  out  of  Baxony  by  the  Lu- 
therans and  the  prince,  where  should  his  fol- 
lowers go  ?  Where  but  to  a  Reformed  prince, 
who  o-ave  them  an  asvhim  in  Halle — founded  a 
university  for  them  where  their  leading  teachei'S 
could  teach  their  doctrines.  The  Reformed 
Church,  tbrough  its  ministers  and  j^rinces, 
greatly  fostered  Pietism  and  earnest  piety.  As 
a  result  of  tliis,  the  Reformed  congregation  at 
Halle  has  certain  rights  in  this  university.  Tliis 
Pietistic  foundation  and  the  prayer-spirit  of 
Tholuck  have  pervaded  the  university.  Pietism 
also  left  another  relic  at  Halle  in  Fiancke's  Or- 
phans' schools.  Although  the  great  professor 
of  theology  in  the  university,  yet  he  Avas  of  a 
practical  mind.  In  1()95  he  received  an  orphan 
into  his  house.     Before  the  month  ran   out,  he 


REFORMED    LANDS.  241 

had  nine,  and  in  two  months  twelve.  A  neigh- 
boring house  was  then  bought  to  accommodate 
the  orphans ;  and  the  work,  founded  entirely  on 
faith,  grew  until  in  1698  he  founded  the  first' 
of  orphan  asylums.  There  are  now  thousands 
of  scholars  attending  these  schools  of  Francke. 
Earnest  piety  always  finds  its  expression  in  prac- 
tical works  like  these.  Faith  always  shows  it- 
self by  its  works.  And  Halle,  through  the  piety 
of  its  professors,  has  become  a  "hall"  of  God,  for 
there  was  found  room  for  the  King  of  Kings ; 
it  has  been  a  "porch" — a  vestibule,  indeed — by 
which  many  souls  entered  the  gate  of  heaven. 


242 


EA3IBLE.S    ROUjS'D 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Berlin — I. 

Of  all  the  great  capitals  of  Europe,  Berlin  is 
the  least  beautifully  located.  No  high  moun- 
tains rise  around  her.  Spread  out  by  the  side 
of  the  river  Spree,  she  lies  on  a  plain  as  flat  as 
one  of  our  western  prairies.  But  what  she  lacks 
in  nature,  is  made  up  by  man's  art.  Wide 
streets,  like  the  "Unter  den  Linden,"  lined  with 
imposing  buildings  ;  flne  parks,  like  the  Thier- 
garten,  whose  shade  is  so  dense  that  the  sun  can- 
not penetrate  ;  and  fine  palaces  and  museums, 
make  Berlin  worthy  of  being  the  capital  of  the 
greatest  empire  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
Still,  even  in  architecture  and  art,  she  cannot 
compare  with  Paris,  Vienna  or  Petersburg.  But 
Berlin  is  a  mighty  metropolis.  With  a  popula- 
tion of  a  million  and  a  half,  her  streets  sounding 
continually  with  the  steady  tramp  of  25,000  sol- 
diers (part  of  Germany's  army  of  millions),  she 
sits  as  the  queen  of  about  fifty  millions  of  Ger- 
mans, who,  as  irdrt  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  race, 
with  us  will  conquer  the  world  for  Christ. 


REFOEMED    LANDS.  243 

The  old  city  was  built  around  the  palace  of 
the  princes  of  Brandenburg,  which  lay  on  an 
island  in  the  river  Spree.  The  present  city 
seems  to  centre  around  the  great  street  "Unter 
den  Linden."  I  saunter  through  this  street, 
which  is  almost  a  mile  long,  running  east  and 
west.  It  is  almost  two  hundred  feet  wide,  lined 
with  double  rows  of  limes  and  chestnuts,  and 
flanked  with  splendid  palaces,  fine  hotels  and 
capacious  stores.  Passing  at  its  east  end,  the 
imposing  statue  of  Frederick  the  Great,  with  a 
palace  on  the  one  side  and  a  university  on  the 
other,  I  find  myself  on  the  artistic  castle  bridge. 
And  here  (I  am  almost  ashamed  to  confess  it) 
I  am  surprised  to  find  myself  on  a  spree.  For 
directly  below  me,  flowing  beneath  the  bridge,  is 
the  river  Spree,  and  I  am  standing  over  it. 
Would  that  all  sprees  were  like  mine — of  water. 
Alas,  the  German  spree  is  of  beer,  which,  with 
brandy,  is  becoming  the  curse  of  Germany,  as  it 
has  been  of  America.  Beyond  the  east  of  the 
bridge  is  the  palace  park,  on  the  north  of  which 
are  the  museums,  filled  with  pictures  and  works 
of  art.  How  marvellous  the  mural  paintings  of 
Kalbach.  As  I  sat  looking  up  at  his  awful 
"  Destruction  of  Jerusalem,"  and  then  turned  to 


244  GAMBLES    ROUND 

see  opposite  his  "Battle  of  the  Huns,"  where  the 
slain  from  the  battle-field  rise  and  fio;ht  the  hat- 
tie  over  again  in  the  clouds  ;  and  then  pass 
on  to  his  "Age  of  the  Keformation,"  with  Lu- 
ther and  Calvin,  Zwingli  and  Melanchthon  bear- 
ing their  part,  I  realized  how  valuable  and  im- 
pressive was  history  painted  by  art ;  and  art, 
when  joined  to  religion. 

Perliaj)s  the  most  interesting  place  in  this 
museum  is  the  Egyj)tian  museum,  where,  as 
some  one  says,  you  can  see  more  of  Egypt  than 
you  can  in  Egypt  itself  Here,  arranged  like 
an  old  temple  of  Pharaoh  (where  you  seem  to 
worship  Isis  and  Osiris),  are  relics  of  the  dawn 
of  history,  tombs,  mummies,  altars  and  sphynxes, 
bringing  the  Orient  into  the  Occident.  No  won- 
der students  of  Egyptology  prefer  Berlin  to 
Cairo  for  study. 

But  returning  to  the  palace  park  in  front  of 
the  museum,  I  pass  the  new  cathedral,  given  by 
the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  to  be  forever  a  Re- 
formed church,  but  which  has  been  robbed  of 
all  that  once  made  it  Reformed ;  and  then  I  en- 
ter the  royal  palace.  It  is  not  used  as  a  resi- 
dence of  the  Emperor  just  now,  perhaps  because 
it  is  said  to  be  haunted  by  a  spectre.     For  the 


REFORMED    LANDS.  245 

Countess  of  Orlamunde,  who  murdered  her  chil- 
dren, is  said  to  appear  here  just  before  the  death 
of  some  member  of  the  royal  family.  We  do 
not  believe  in  ghosts.  At  any  rate,  if  we  were 
to  see  any,  we  would  have  been  glad  to  see  this 
one.  For  when  we  were  there,  poor  Emperor 
Frederick  was  dying  by  inches,  breathing  out 
his  life  in  agony,  and  we  felt  that  it  would  be  a 
mercy  to  relieve  him  from  his  sufferings.  Since 
then  a  merciful  Providence  has  delivered  him. 
And  Germany  saw  what  she  never  saw  before,  a 
year  in  which  she  had  three  Emperors  ;  so  that 
year  (1888)  will  go  down  in  history  as  Drei- 
Kaiser- Jahr  (the  year  of  the  three  Emperors) , 

But  this  castle  has  something  connected  with 
it  more  real  than  a  spectre — a  history,  and  a  his- 
tory connected  with  our  own  Church.  Berlin 
was  Catholic  before  the  Reformation,  and  then 
became  Lutheran.  But  in  1613  Elector  Sigis- 
mund,  wearied  of  the  polemics  of  the  Lutheran 
pastors  and  preachers  of  his  day,  made  a  Christ- 
mas present  to  the  Reformed  Church  ;  and  that 
was  a  present  of  himself  and  his  royal  family  as 
members  of  our  Church.  From  his  day  the 
royal  family  of  Germany  have  been  Reformed. 
He  gave  his  royal  church,  the  cathedral  of  the 


246  KAMBLES    ROUND 

city,  to  the  E,eformed.     It  was  originally  located 
on  the  castle  park,  just  south  of  the  palace. 

In  1615  he  attempted  to  complete  his  change 
to  our  faith  by  putting  out,  after  the  fashion  of 
the  Calvinists  of  his  day,  all  pictures,  altars,  cru- 
cifixes, fonts  and  the  gold  and  silver  statues  of 
the  apostles,  which  had  adorned  his  church.  But 
the  Lutheran  populace  who  had  always  been  ac- 
customed to  these,  looked  upon  this  innovation 
as  a  sign  that  he  was  about  to  introduce  the  Re- 
formed faith  by  force  in  all  their  churches.  80 
one  night  when  the  Elector  was  away,  they  gath- 
ered in  a  mob  around  St.  Peter's  church,  pursued 
his  soldiers  down  the  Brothers  street,  stormed 
the  house  of  the  Reformed  preacher  ;  and  threat- 
ened that  the  next  thing  they  would  do  would 
be  to  storm  the  castle  of  their  prince.  But  the 
Elector  returned  the  next  day,  and  better  coun- 
sels prevailed.  The  Reformed  faith  was  tol- 
erated by  the  people,  although  unwillingly  at 
first.  But  the  poor  Reformed  preacher  Fussel 
lost  his  library  in  this  riot,  and  had  to  preach  at 
the  next  service  in  a  green  vest,  because  the  mob 
had  not  left  him  any  other.  His  appearance  in 
the  pulpit  must  have  been  picturesque  and  bright, 
if  not  altogether  suitable  to  the  place. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  247 

But  the  great  Reformed  prince  of  Germany 
(there  has  been  none  like  him  before  or  since), 
was  the  great  Elector  Frederick  William,  who 
reigned  from  1640  to  1688.  He  it  was  who  laid 
the  foundation  of  Prussia's  future  greatness  by 
his  foresight  and  economy.  And  he  it  was  who 
was  always  the  strong  defender  of  the  Reformed 
faith  in  his  and  other  lands.  To  the  economy 
and  simplicity  taught  him  by  his  Reformed  faith, 
and  to  the  Reformed  princes  that  his  religion 
brought  him  in  contact  with,  Prussia  owes  the 
beginning  of  her  present  greatness  as  the  leader 
of  Germany.  She  has  to  thank  the  Reformed 
Church  for  it.  His  wife,  the  Electress  Louisa 
Henrietta,  was  a  beautiful  Christian  character, 
one  of  the  saints  of  our  Church.  When  op- 
pressed with  sadness  because  there  was  no  heir 
to  the  throne  given  her,  she  wrote  that  gem  of 
German  hymns,  "  Jesus,  meine  Zuversicht." 

Jesus,  my  Redeemer,  lives; 

Christ,  my  trust,  is  dead  no  more ! 

In  the  strength  this  knowledge  gives, 

Shall  not  all  our  fears  be  o'er? 

Calm,  though  death's  long  night  be  fraught 

Still  with  many  an  anxious  thought. 


248  RAMBLES    ROUND 

She  cared  nothing  for  fashion,  and  lived  only 
for  charity  and  religion.  She  became  so  popular 
through  her  kindness  that  her  name  Louisa  be- 
came a  favorite  one  in  German  households ;  and 
until  as  late  as  a  half  century  ago  her  portrait 
was  still  found  on  the  walls  of  the  cottages. 

The  great  Elector  always  stood  forth  as  the  de- 
fender of  the  persecuted  Reformed  everywhere. 
Two  weeks  after  the  King  of  France  issued  the 
edict  that  drove  the  Huguenots  out  of  France, 
he  issued  an  edict  welcoming  them  into  his  land. 
His  wife  being  a  descendant  of  the  great  Admiral 
Coligny,  he  felt  a  special  interest  in  them  for 
her  sake,  and  said  he  would  sell  his  silver  plate 
to  raise  money  enough  to  befriend  these  French 
refugees.  Five  thousand  of  them  settled  in  Ber- 
lin. He  gave  them  the  northwestern  end,  the 
suburb  of  the  city  called  Moabit,  a  Avaste  of  sand 
along  the  river  Spree.  But  these  industrious 
and  tasty  Frenchmen  soon  made  that  desert  blos- 
som as  the  rose.  The  Elector  had  the  greatest 
confidence  in  the  integrity  of  these  French  citi- 
zens. He  once  surprised  his  wife  as  she  was 
giving  her  crown  jewels  into  the  hand  of  a  stran- 
ger. He  asked  of  her  in  astonishment  who  the 
man  was.     "I  do  not  know  his   name,"  she  re- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  249 

plied,  "  but  he  is  a  Huguenot."  This  was  enough. 
A  Huguenot's  word  was  as  good  as  an  oath. 
They  returned  his  confidence  by  becoming  true 
citizens  of  his  German  fatherland. 

But  the  most  famous  of  Prussia's  kings  was 
Fredericlv  the  Great.  He  was  great  as  a  king 
and  general ;  but,  alas,  he  ridiculed  the  faith  of 
his  fathers.  For  Voltaire,  with  his  French  wit, 
became  his  patron  saint  for  a  while,  and  Vol- 
taire's skepticism  became  the  king's  faith.  But 
Frederick  had  pious  Christians  in  his  court  to 
rebuke  him.  One  was  General  Van  Zietan, 
who,  from  his  name  and  associations,  we  suspect 
was  Reformed.  One  day  Frederick  made  some 
slighting  remark  about  the  Lord's  Supper.  The 
gray-haired  soldier  stood  up  and  said ;  "  Your 
majesty  knows  that  I  have  never  feared  any  dan- 
ger. But  there  is  One  above  us  who  is  greater 
than  you  or  I.  That  holy  One  I  never  allow  to 
be  mocked  or  insulted."  The  brave  confession 
so  conquered  the  king  that  he  confessed  he  had 
wronged  the  general.  And  his  brave  soldiers 
rebuked  his  skepticism  once  on  the  battle-field 
of  Leuthen,  a  victory  which  astonished  even 
Napoleon.  But  what  bore  up  the  hearts  of  the 
soldiers  as  they  went  into  battle  for  that  victory  ? 

17 


250  RAMBLES    PwOUND 

They  sang  one  of  the  j)salms  of  the  Reformed 
Church  as  they  marched.  "Shall  we  order  this 
clamor  to  cease  ?"  asked  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  king.  "By  no  means,"  he  replied,  for  his 
heart  was  touched  by  it.  He  was  so  impressed 
with  it  that  he  said  to  an  officer  by  his  side :. 
"  With  men  like  these,  don't  you  think  that  T 
shall  have  victory  this  day  ?" 

Frederick  the  Great's  palace  was  at  Sans 
Souci,  near  Potsdam,  18  miles  southwest  of  Ber- 
lin. Its  gardens  and  parks  are  worthy  of  so 
great  a  king.  Back  of  the  ^^alace  is  the  famous 
windmill,  whose  owner  dared  to  refuse  to  sell  it 
to  the  king.  He  thus  proved  stronger  than  a 
king,  for  he  refused  to  sell  it  to  him. 

Near  Sans  Souci  is  the  new  palace  of  Charlot- 
tenhof,  erected  by  Frederick  the  Great,  after  the 
Seven  Years'  War.  It  contains  the  famous  shell 
room,  a  room  arranged  to  imitate  a  grotto,  whose 
sides  are  lined  with  minerals  and  precious 
stones,  some  of  great  value. 

There  were  originally  three  kinds  of  Reformed 
Churches  in  Berlin.  The  first  were  the  court 
or  royal  churches,  which  belonged  to  the  royal 
family,  and  which  (as  the  princes  were  Re- 
formed) were  of  course  Reformed,  too.     These 


KEFORMED    LANDS.  251 

were  all  swallowed  up  in  the  union  between  the 
Reformed  and  Lutheran,  which  formed  the 
Evangelical  Church.  The  second  class  are  the 
French  churches.  These  still  remain  true  to 
their  first  faith.  And  although  founded  as 
French  churches,  they  soon  became  true  Ger- 
man citizens.  It  is  related  that  when  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  was  in  Berlin,  the  hoary  minister  of 
the  French  church  there  had  an  audience  with 
him.  Napoleon  spoke  very  severely  against  the 
character  of  the  Queen  of  Prussia.  The  min- 
ister boldly  but  firmly  withstood  this  conqueror 
of  Europe  to  the  fece,  saying  that  he  wrongly 
accused  his  queen.  Finally  in  his  earnestness 
(for  the  French  are  always  impulsive)  he  dared 
to  seize  the  arm  that  had  shaken  Europe  and 
said  :  '.'  Sir,  this  arm  is  victorious  ;  let  it  also  be 
gracious.  Do  not  attack  the  reputation  of  the 
Queen.  She  is  an  excellent  woman."  Thus  he 
stood  up  against  the  land  of  his  fathers  (France) 
for  the  sake  of  the  land  of  his  adoption  (Prussia.) 
There  are  at  present  in  Berlin  6,000  French 
Reformed,  who  worship  in  the  French  church, 
near  the  Emperor's  palace.  They  have  three 
other  places  of  worship,  and  are  under  a  con- 
sistory. 


252  RAMBLES    ROUND 

There  is  still  another  source  from  which  Re- 
formed people  came  to  Berlin  and  formed  a  Re- 
formed congregotion,  A  century  and  a  half  ago 
a  colony  of  persecuted  refugees  fled  from  Bohe- 
mia to  Berlin.  The  Jesuits  had  been  scouring 
Bohemia,  searching  for  their  prey,  so  that  these 
finally  fled  in  sheer  despair.  The  king  of  Prus- 
sia took  them  in.  They  were  originally  mem- 
bers of  the  Brethren  Church  of  Bohemia.  But 
by  and  by  they  divided  into  two  congregations, 
a  Lutheran  and  a  Reformed.  Both  congrega- 
tiona  worshipped  in  the  same  building,  the 
Bethlehem  church,  named  after  the  Bethlehem 
church  at  Prague,  where  John  Huss  used  to 
preach.  The  church  is  situated  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  city,  not  far  from  the  Thier- 
garten. 

Over  this  Reformed  congregation  ministered 
for  many  years  the  sainted  Gossner,  once  a 
Catholic  priest,  whose  preaching  had  moved  St. 
Petersburg  as  it  had  never  been  moved  before, 
and  who  afterward,  in  1829,  became  pastor  of 
this  Bethlehem  church.  Through  him  this 
church  became  a  living  centre  of  God's  work  in 
the  city.  For  city  mission  work  and  evangeliza- 
tion among  the  students  were  his  pleasure,  and 


REFORMED    LANDS.  253 

the  preaching  of  the  cross  was  his  great  delight. 
"Father  Gossner"  became  a  name  honored  in 
Berlin,  and  his  presence  was  welcomed  even  in 
the  palace,  while   his   preaching   crowded   his 
church.     From  home  mission  work  it  is  but  a 
step  to  foreign  mission  work.     His  predecessor, 
Janicke,  had  already  started  a  school  for  mis- 
sionaries, some   of  whom  became  missionaries 
of  the  London  Missionary  Society.     One  day 
there  came  to  him  three  or  four  young  artisans, 
whose  hearts  had  been  inflamed  by  his  earnest 
preaching.     They  burned  to  go  to  the  heathen, 
but  they  had  no  education.     He  refused  them 
again  and  again.     Again  and  again  they  be- 
sought him  to  teach  them.     Finally  he  began 
to  teach  them.     And  so,  in  spite  of  the  opposi- 
tion of- the  olergy  and  almost  every  one  else,  a 
new  mission  was  started,   which  was  called  af- 
ter  his   name,  the  Gossner    Mission.      It   has 
done   a   wonderful   work   in    various   parts    of 
heathendom,  as  Africa  and  the  East  Indies,  but 
especially  among  the  Kohls  of  India.     He  was 
backed  by  no  society.     He  was  the  society,  some 
one  said ;  for  in  answer  to  prayer  he  received 
funds  enough  to  send  out  missionary  after  mis- 
sionary, until  141  had  been  sent  out  by  him. 


254  RAMBLES    ROUND 

As  an  illustration  of  his  mission,  take  the  fol- 
lowing :  The  Kohls  in  India  were  very  super- 
stitious and  obstinate.  They  once  drove  the 
missionaries  away,  because  they  said  they  would 
inconvenience  the  devil.  But  after  laboring 
for  almost  twenty  years,  and  seeing  almost  no 
fruits,  the  missionaries  were  rejoiced  to  see  these 
heathen  crowding  to  unite  with  the  Church,  con- 
fessing Christ  by  scores.  Gossner  is  dead,  but 
this  missionary  society  remains  as  his  monument. 
From  the  efforts  of  this  one  man,  34,000  con- 
verts, mainly  in  India,  have  been  gathered  into 
the  missions  of  the  society.  How  wonderful  the 
results  of  Christian  work. 

The  present  pastor  of  the  Bethlehem  church 
is  Kev.  Mr.  Hapke,  who  entered  on  the  pastor- 
ate twenty-five  years  ago.  He  is  strong  in  his 
Reformed  sympathies.  During  this  time  there 
was  strife  between  the  two  congregations  who 
worshipped  in  the  building.  Union  churches 
there  are  not  more  successful  than  they  have 
been  amongst  us  in  America.  Matters  came  to 
such  a  pass  that  either  the  two  congregations 
must  separate  or  one  go  down.  The  sympathy 
of  the  state  and  the  state  church  have  all  been 
asrainst  the  Reformed.     Their  aim  was  to  make 


REFORMED    LANDS.  255 

the  congregation  gradually  disorganize  and  die 
by  inches,  so  as  to  be  lost  in  the  state  church. 
They  said,  as  this  church  was  intended  only  for 
Bohemians,  only  Bohemians  should  be  allowed 
to  worship  there.  As  there  are  very  few  Prot- 
estants in  Bohemia,  and  fewer  still  came  to  Ber- 
lin, it  was  evident  that  in  a  few  years  the  con- 
gregation would  die  out.  But  pastor  Hapke  vig- 
orously contended  that  as  there  were  many  Re- 
formed j^eople  in  Berlin,  and  as  this  was  the  only 
German  Reformed  church  there,  it  ought  to  ex- 
ist for  them. 

In  1885  there  were  18,000  persons  who  regis- 
tered themselves  as  Reformed,  and  there  are 
doubtless  many  more.  Besides,  there  is  a  large 
emigration  to  the  capital  from  country  districts 
which  are  Reformed.  So  a  Reformed  church  is 
needed.  And  as  the  Reformed  churches  that 
used  to  be  in  Berlin,  were  lost  in  the  Union,  the 
state  is  bound  to  provide  a  church  for  them. 
For  these  and  other  good  reasons  he  claimed 
that  the  state  had  no  right  to  take  the  church 
property  away  from  them.  After  a  long  and 
bitter  controversy,  the  state  has  finally  decided 
to  give  them  their  rights,  and  the  Reformed 
have  possession  of  the  church,  their  share  of  the 


256  RAMBLES    ROUND 

property  being  reckoned  at  $75,000.  This 
church,  now  relieved  from  its  old  encumbrances, 
will  be  a  new  starting  point  for  the  Reformed  in 
Berlin.  It  is  a  strong  church,  with  1,600  ad- 
herents and  780  communicants.  It  has  already- 
started  what  may  be  the  germ  of  a  Reformed 
theological  seminary.  This  is  very  much  needed, 
as  there  are  no  Reformed  universities  and  only 
three  or  four  jirofessors  of  Reformed  theology 
in  all  Germany.  This  seminary  will  give  Re- 
formed students  a  fine  oj>portunity  to  study  Re- 
formed theology.  This  Bethlehem  church,  like 
the  star  of  Bethlehem,  will  be  a  star  of  hope  for 
Reformed  people  in  Eastern  Germany,  opening 
up  wide  avenues  for  growth  and  influence  in  the 
great  capital. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  257 


CHAPTER  XX. 
BerUn— II. 

In  our  last  chapter  we  described  the  Berlin  of 
the  past ;  now  we  will  take  up  the  Berlin  of  the 
present.  We  have  described  especially  the  his- 
tory of  the  Reformed  churches  in  Berlin.  We 
now  propose  to  give  a  sketch  of  the  present  re- 
ligious condition  of  the  German  capital.  Its  re- 
ligious state  is  very  discouraging.  The  city 
numbers,  it  is  said,  one  and  a  half  million,  and 
yet  there  are  only  about  fifty  churches,  and  they 
have  seats  for  only  about  50,000.  If  all  the  pop- 
ulation were  to  conclude  to  go  to  church  at  the 
same  time,  by  far  the  most  of  them  would  not 
get  seats.  If  only  the  servant  girls  were  all  to 
attend  church  at  once,  20,000  of  them  would  not 
be  able  to  find  seats.  In  one  parish  (Moabit) 
which  has  80,000  inhabitants,  there  is  but  one 
church,  and  that  seats  only  500. 

But  alas,  what  church  buildings  there  are,  are 
not  filled.  I  saw  an  estimate  that  on  a  given 
Sunday  only  25,000  attended  church.     Only  two 


258  RAMBLES    ROUND 

per  cent,  attend  church,  and  only  one  seventh  of 
the  evangelical  population  attend  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. This  state  of  affairs  is  alarming,  and  it 
seems  to  be  getting  worse.  For  five  years  (1880 
-85),  while  the  population  grew  160,000,' only  one 
church  was  built.  The  great  cities  are  in  danger 
of  becoming  paganized ;  or  socialism  (there  are 
already  90,000  socialists  in  Berlin)  will  lift  its 
head  and  anarchy  will  come  in.  Something 
must  be  done  to  stop  this  onward  and  downward 
course  of  affairs. 

There  may  be  several  reasons  for  this  lament- 
able state  of  religion  in  the  German  capital.  One 
may  be  the  prevalence  of  German  rationalism. 
One  fourth  of  the  clergy  are  rationalists,  and  out 
of  thirty-five  parishes,  five  exclusively  so.  An- 
other reason  may  be  the  union  of  the  church 
with  the  state,  and  that  paralyzes  the  church  and 
prevents  her  from  growing.  Tlie  people  rely  on 
the  state  to  provide  churches  for  them,  instead  of 
providing  them  themselves.  But  whatever  may 
be  the  reason  of  this  dearth  of  religion,  it  is  high 
time  that  something  were  done  to  remedy  the 
evil.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  efforts  are  being 
made.  Things  are  not  all  dark.  There  is  a 
brighter  side.     There  are  hopeful  signs  of  greatly 


REFORMED    LANDS.  259 

increased  activity  on  the  part  of  the  Christians 
both  in  Berlin  and  Germany.  I  j)ropose  to 
sketch  some  of  these  movements  that  aim  at  the 
regeneration  of  Berlin. 

Probably  the  foremost  leader  in  city  mission- 
ary activity  is  court  preacher  Stocker.  Next  to 
Bismarck,  he  is  the  most  loved  and  most  hated 
man  in  Germany.  He  is  hated  by  the  Jews  be- 
cause of  his  crusade  against  them  some  years  ago. 
He  attacked  them  because  their  influence  was  for 
infidelity.  But  to  none  are  active  Christian  work- 
ers more  attached  than  to  him.  He  means  well, 
though  he  may  make  mistakes.  But  he  made 
no  mistake  when  he  undertook  to  stir  up  the 
Prussian  church  to  do  her  duty  to  the  masses  by 
startino-  the  citv  mission  of  Berlin. 

Alongside  of  him  has  worked  another  man,  a 
German-American,  Von  Schlumbach.  He  was 
born  and  reared  in  Germany,  but  came  to  this 
country  and  fought  in  our  late  civil  war.  But 
in  spite  of  a  mother's  prayers,  he  became  a  blatant 
infidel,  editor  of  a  skeptical  paper,  and  a  lecturer 
against  religion.  But  the  Lord  who  appeared  to 
Saul  outside  of  Damascus,  appeared  to  this  man 
as  he  was  making  havoc  with  God's  saints.  One 
day  in  1868,  on  his  way  to  Philadelphia  to  de- 


260  RAMBLES    ROUND 

liver  an  infidel  lecture,  he  happened  to  visit  his 
old  commander  in  our  army,  General  Albright, 
at  his  home  at  Maucli  Chunk.  His  reception 
was  so  pleasant  that  he  overstayed  his  time  and 
missed  the  last  train  on  Saturday  evening.  That 
was  before  the  days  of  Sunday  trains,  so  he  had 
to  stay  over  Sunday.  Meanwhile  the  wife  of 
General  Albright  determined,  with  God's  grace, 
to  convert  this  German  infidel.  And  with  all 
woman's  wit  and  tact  she  inveigled  him  into  an 
argument,  as  to  which  had  done  the  most  for  the 
world,  Christianity  or  infidelity.  Of  course  the 
lady  had  the  right  of  the  argument,  and  Von 
Schlumbach  found  himself  cornered.  Unhappy 
at  his  defeat,  the  thought  flashed  across  his  mind, 
"  What,  if  all  she  had  said  were  true  ?"  He  went 
to  his  hotel  an  unhappy  man,  made  still  more 
unhappy  by  a  promise  he  had  been  led  to  make 
to  her,  to  go  to  church  the  next  day, — the  first 
time  in  many  years  that  he  had  been  to  church. 
The  next  morning  he  arose  dissatisfied.  God's 
spirit  had  gotten  hold  of  him,  and  he  knew  it  not. 
He  tried  to  drown  his  feelings  in  a  glass  of  beer, 
but  to  his  surprise  it  went  against  him,  and  he 
could  not  drink  it.  He  was  even  tempted  to  com- 
mit suicide,  as  a  relief  from  his  anxiety.     He 


REFORMED    LANDS.  '    261 

went  to  church  as  he  had  promised.  But  it  was 
when  he  went  to  Sunday  school  to  see  Mrs.  Al- 
bright's infant  class,  that  his  soul  was  torn  up  by 
the  roots.  There  were  no  Sunday  Schools  in 
Germany  when  he  was  a  boy,  and  as  he  had  been 
an  infidel  since  he  was  in  America,  he  had  never 
seen  one.  The  sight  of  so  many  little  children 
and  their  singing  broke  his  heart.  With  tears 
in  his  eyes,  he  was  taken  to  the  large  school,  and 
there  to  his  dismay,  General  Albright  introduced 
him  as  an  old  army  comrade,  who  would  tell  them 
what  it  was  to  believe  in  no  God  and  to  deride 
Christ.  If  a  lightning  flash  had  struck  him,  he 
would  not  have  suffered  more.  Infidel  lecturer 
though  he  had  been,  with  multitudes  of  arguments 
against  religion  on  his  tongue,  not  a  word  could 
he  utter.  All  he  could  do,  was  to  ask  them  to 
pray  for  him.  And  the  school  knelt  in  prayer 
for  him .  That  night  he  was  converted  in  a  Meth- 
odist church.  His  conversion  created  an  intense 
excitement  among  his  former  infidel  associates. 
They  even  charged  him  with  being  bribed  by 
10,000  dollars  to  become  a  Christian.  He  soon 
became  a  preacher,  and  finally  went  to  Berlin  to 
labor  for  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
there.     Finding  he  could  exert  more  influence, 


262  EAMBLES    KOUND 

he  left  the  Methodist  Church  for  the  State 
Church.  In  Berlin  he  did  a  wonderful  work 
among  the  upper  classes  and  the  nobility,  in  con- 
verting them  to  Christ,  or  in  developing  them  in 
Christian  activity.  Mainly  through  his  efforts, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  there  has 
attained  its  present  prosperity.  While  Stocker 
stirred  up  the  church  e.cclesiastically.  Von 
Schlumbach  did  it  socially. 

Nor  should  we  forget  another  very  important 
religious  influence  in  the  capital,  and  that  is  the 
influence  of  the  royal  family.  The  late  Emperor 
William  was  a  pious  Christian.  His  son  Fred- 
erick inclined  toward  infidelity,  until  his  sickness 
brought  him  back  to  God  ;  but  it  is  charged  that 
his  wife  is  a  free  thinker,  and  had  he  lived,  evan- 
gelical i^iety  would  have  been  below  par.  But 
the  present  Emperor  is  an  evangelical  and  his 
wife  is  a  very  earnest  Christian.  He  gave  $1250 
to  the  new  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  and  his  wife 
gave  $5000  to  the  city  mission.  But  the  leader 
of  the  present  court.  Countess  Waldersee,  is  a 
Christian  lady  and  an  American,  acquainted 
with  the  progressive  American  methods  of 
church-work.  These  all  nobly  second  the  efforts 
of  Stocker  and  Von  Schlumbach. 


REFORMED    LANDS.  263 

Another  important  agency  is  the  Sunday 
School.  This  is  a  comjmratively  new  thing  in 
Germany.  The  Sunday  school,  though  invented 
in  England,  is  called  by  the  Germans  an  Amer- 
ican institution,  because  it  has  been  most  fully 
developed  here.  Fostered  by  Mr.  Albert  Wood- 
ruff, of  Brooklyn,  the  Sunday  school  work  began 
there  25  years  ago,  and  has  grown  until  there  are 
now  60  Sunday  schools  and  22,000  scholars  in 
Berlin.  One  of  the  schools,  at  Zion's  church, 
whose  j^astor,  Krafft,  was  one  of  the  first  Sunday 
school  workers  in  Germany,  now  numbers  eighty 
classes  and  1400  scholars.  I  determine  to  visit 
one  of  these  schools.  I  go  to  the  St.  Jacobi 
church,  where  the  Sunday  school  met  at  noon. 
When  I  arrive  outside  the  building,  I  find 
the  children  waiting.  The  congregation  inside 
the  church  is  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
must  not  be  disturbed.  But  soon  it  is  over,  and 
from  all  directions  the  children  stream  into  the 
church,  not  noisily  as  in  many  of  our  Sunday 
Schools,  but  quietly  taking  their  places.  In  a 
few  moments  they  are  all  arranged  in  classes^ 
and  the  session  begins  with  singing.  Their 
hymns  are  not  so  lively  as  ours,  but  are  staid 
chorals,  which   the  German  loves  ;   or    else,  if 


264  RAMBLES    ROUND 

faster  hymns  are  used,  they  are  sung  very  slowly. 
After  a  brief  responsive  service  and  reading  of 
Scripture,  another  hymn  is  sung,  and  then  the 
school  goes  to  the  study  of  the  lesson.  Some  of 
the  lady  teachers  lay  aside  their  bonnets,  as  if 
for  earnest  work.  Most  of  the  teachers  stand 
before  their  classes,  while  the  scholars  sit.  And 
esf)ecially  the  gentlemen  are  quite  demonstra- 
tive, throwing  out  their  hands  in  gestures.  So 
that,  as  I  sit  at  the  farthest  end  of  the  room  and 
cannot  hear  what  they  are  saying,  their  actions 
seem  like  a  pantomime.  After  the  teaching  of 
the  lesson,  the  school  is  reviewed.  The  young 
minister  who  acts  as  superintendent,  begins  to 
examine  the  scholars,  walking  up  and  down  the 
centre  aisle  as  he  does  it.  He  puts  a  question, 
and  immediately  a  score  of  hands  are  raised  to 
answer  it.  He  points  to  one  and  gets  the  an- 
swer. And  he  puts  his  question  in  a  way  that 
would  seem  very  strange  to  us.  He  puts  the 
question  thus  :  "  The  Lord  told  Abraham  to  go 
to," — then  he  makes  a  pause  for  the  answer, 
which  is  "  Mt.  Moriah."  "  He  commanded  to  take 
with  him," — he  pauses  while  the  scholar  answers 
*'  Isaac."  The  scholar  seems  to  put  in  the  va- 
cant word  of  the  question.     This  mode  of  ques- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  265 

tioning  would  seem  very  strange  to  us,  but  I 
suppose  they  use  it  in  their  public  schools,  and 
so  the  children  are  accustomed  to  it.  As  I  lis- 
ten, I  feel  that  the  examination  is  rather  intel- 
lectual than  spiritual.  But  the  greatest  interest 
is  kept  up  to  the  end.  Everything  moves  with 
a  promptness  unknown  to  most  American  schools. 
And  the  order  of  the  school  would  put  most  of 
ours  to  shame.  However,  one  misses  the  infant 
school  with  its  attractive  exercises.  And  one 
also  misses  the  older  people  who  do  not  attend. 
Nor  do  many  children  above  the  age  of  fourteen 
(when  they  are  confirmed)  attend.  Indeed,  they 
call  the  school  "  Children's  Church,"  and  seem 
to  limit  it  to  the  children.  But  the  Sunday 
School  is  doing  a  remarkable  work.  If  the 
Church  succeeds  in  getting  hold  of  the  next 
generation  through  the  children,  she  will  be 
much  more  powerful  than  she  is  now. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  j)rivate  religious 
efforts  in  Berlin  is  the  work  among  the  cabmen. 
Nearly  twenty  years  ago  a  German  lady  of  no- 
ble birth  was  sick  and  helpless.  She  had  la- 
bored much  in  Sabbath  Schools  and  other  Chris- 
tian work.  Her  husband,  wishing  to  comfort 
her,  suggested  that  she  might  employ  a  substi- 
18 


266  RAMBLES    ROUND 

tute.  A  Christian  widow  was  found,  who,  after 
being  instructed  by  this  lady  on  her  sick-bed, 
went  forth  and  began  work  among  the  cabmen 
of  Berlin  and  their  families.  She  called  on  the 
wives,  telling  them  how  much  she  was  interested 
in  them,  and  asked  them  to  learn  with  her  cer- 
tain 2)ortions  of  the  Bible.  Consent  is  usually 
gained ;  for  these  poor  women  are  glad  of  any 
sympathy  or  notice.  'J'hen  they  are  encouraged 
to  write  down  in  a  blank  book  the  verses  they 
learn,  to  be  handed  to  the  Bible  woman  when 
she  comes  again,  perhaps  in  two  weeks.  The 
husband  is  often  reached  through  the  wife  ;  and 
sometimes  his  long  hours  of  waiting  for  employ- 
ment are  beguiled  by  memorizing  verses  in  the 
pocket  testament.  If  he  does  not  consent  to 
learn  them,  he  will,  perhaps,  hear  his  wife  read 
them  at  home,  and  sometimes  is  thus  made  wise 
unto  salvation.  These  poor  cabmen  and  their 
families  are  frequently  gathered  to  public  meet- 
ings, where  warm  refreshments  are  served  and 
religious  service  is  held.  The  founder  is  now 
well,  and  employs  a  deaconess  to  nurse  the  sick 
among  them,  and  six  Bible  women  to  visit  them, 
and  is  reaching  the  cabmen  with  wonderful  suc- 
cess. 


REFOEMED    LANDS.  267 

There  are  other  interesting  agencies  in  Berlin, 
as  the  deaconess  work  among  servant  girls ;  but 
I  hasten  on  to  speak  of  what  is  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  religious  efforts  in  our  age.  It  is  a 
peculiar  phase  of  religious  work,  which  we  have 
nothing  exactly  like,  in  this  country.  It  is  the 
distribution  of  printed  sermons  every  week. 
This  work  was  begun  mainly  through  the  court- 
preacher  Stocker.  As  a  great  part  of  the  popu- 
lation will  not  come  to  church,  the  church  must 
go  after  them.  And  as  so  many  thousands 
who  have  to  work  on  Sunday,  cannot  join  the 
church  service,  they  determined  to  take  the 
church  service  to  them  in  the  shape  of  printed 
sermons.  So  Mr.  Stocker  gathered  twenty  ear- 
nest Christian  workers,  who  felt  the  needs  of 
the  work  as  much  as  he  did,  on  a  Saturday  in 
November,  1881,  to  scatter  600  printed  sermons 
on  the  next  day.  They  entered  on  their  work 
with  much  fear,  and  yet  with  much  courage. 
The  next  day  they  went  forth  to  give  these  ser- 
mons to  passers-by  on  the  streets,  or  to  leave 
them  with  the  sick,  or  at  the  homes  of  the  god- 
less. But  their  reception  was  different  from 
what  they  had  expected.  Instead  of  rebuffs, 
and,  perhaps,  insults,  they  were  gladly  received; 


268  RAMBLES    ROUND 

yes,  sometimes  welcomed  with  tears.  And  from 
that  time  the  work  has  grown  continually,  until 
now  they  publish  120,000  copies  of  these  ser- 
mons each  week.  Of  these  only  18,000  are  used 
in  Berlin.  A  great  demand  has  sprung  up  for 
them  all  over  Germany,  yes,  all  over  the  world 
wherever  the  German  language  is  spoken.  They 
are  sent  to  Russia,  Sweden  and  Egypt,  yes,  to 
America  and  Asia.  About  2,000  persons  now 
take  part  in  the  distribution,  and  they  are  from 
all  classes — students,  physicians,  mechanics — 
any  one  who  has  the  kjve  of  God  in  his  heart. 
The  sermon  leaflet  consists  of  a  full  order  of 
church  service.  It  is  an  eight-page  tract,  con- 
taining first  an  opening  passage  from  the  Bible, 
then  a  hymn,  and  then  the  sermon,  followed 
with  a  prayer  and  a  benediction.  With  it  a 
person  can  hold  church  service  all  by  himself,  if 
he  must.  The  sermons  are  taken  from  Luther, 
Hofacker,  Harms,  and  from  living  preachers 
like  Kogel,  Frommel,  Ahlfeld  and  Stocker. 
They  have  lately  commenced  to  publish  them 
in  Polish,  as  well  as  in  German,  so  as  to  reach 
the  Poles.  They  are  given  to  policemen,  rail- 
way men,  boatmen,  horse  car  men,  hackmen, 
post-office  em2:)loyees,  patients  in  hospitals,  wait- 


REFORMED    LANDS.  269 

ers,  servants  and  street  sweepers.  The  apprecia- 
tion of  the  people  shows  the  good  they  are  do- 
ing. Soon  after  the  work  was  begun,  a  lady,  who 
had  given  some  sermons  to  cabmen,  heard  some 
one  calling  her.  She  turned  and  saw  a  police- 
man running  after  her.  He  came  up,  touched 
his  helmet,  and  begged  her  to  be  kind  enough 
to  let  him  have  a  sermon.  His  request  was 
granted,  and  his  station  being  near  by,  sermons 
were  taken  to  his  comrades.  Weekly  she  gave 
them  sermons.  After  a  while  the  men  volun- 
tarily gave  her  a  donation  for  her  society.  Many 
servant  girls  work  till  midnight,  and  are  called 
at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  but  they  will  steal 
some  time  from  sleep  to  read  these  sermons. 

These  tracts  have  led  to  conversions.  One 
distributer  reports  a  father,  given  for  fifteen 
years  to  drunkenness,  convicted  of  sin  by  a  ser- 
mon given  to  him.  He  became  a  changed  man. 
A  journeyman  joiner  received  a  sermon.  On 
Sunday  he  told  his  master  he  would  not  work. 
This  master  threatened  him  with  dismissal.  He 
then  gave  his  master  the  sermon  he  had  receiv- 
ed ;  and  prayed  him  to  read  it,  before  he  sent 
him  off.  The  master  read  it,  as  did  his  family 
and  the  other  workmen,  and  the   next  Sunday 


270  RAMBLES    ROUND 

all  went  to  church,  and  there  was  no  more  Sun- 
day work  in  that  house.  Some  owners  of  facto- 
ries give  a  sermon  to  each  workman  with  their 
wages  on  Saturday  evenings,  and  in  some  smal- 
ler towns  this  has  worked  a  revolution  in  the 
morals  of  the  community.  The  publisher  of  a 
Pomeranian  paper  sends  one  to  each  subscri- 
ber. A  pastor  sends  one  to  every  sick  person  in 
his  parish.  In  cases  where  church  attendance 
is  impossible,  little  congregations  are  often  form- 
ed, who,  in  a  spare  hour,  read  together  these  ser- 
mons and  sing  the  hymns,  perhaps  in  a  railway 
tunnel  or  police  bureau,  or  a  canal-lock ;  and 
stories  come  back  of  rich  blessings  on  these 
churchless  worshippers. 

This  sermon  distribution  is  doing  a  grand 
work.  It  is  leavening  the  unchurched  masses 
of  that  great  city.  Socialistic  votes  are  lessen- 
ing, and  public  morals  are  improving.  But  the 
most  remarkable  result  has  been,  that  recently 
the  Berlin  congregations  for  the  first  time  elected 
an  evangelical  majority  in  the  city  synod,  thus 
putting  an  end  to  the  rule  of  rationalists  in  the 
city.  This  mission  society  now  employs  thirty- 
six  city  missionaries,  five  ordained  pastors,  and 
holds  services  in  twenty  halls. 


REFORMED   LANDS.  271 

Thus  the  religious  work  in  Berlin  is  growing 
in  influence  and  efficiency.  Berlin  to-day  is  a 
religious  waste,  like  the  Sahara.  But  they  are 
dotting  this  waste  with  artesian  wells,  from  which 
shall  spring  forth  the  water  of  life,  and  multi- 
tudes will  drink  and  be  saved.  These  religious 
movements  will  go  on  with  ever  increasing  power 
until  religion  triumphs  and  the  land  of  Luther 
shall  be  stirred  as  with  an  new  reformation. 

In  the  western  part  of  Berlin,  near  the  Thier- 
garten,  is  a  statue  that  always  impressed  me.  It 
is  the  statue  of  Victory,  which  commemorates 
the  great  victories  of  Germany  in  her  late  wars 
with  Denmark,  Austria  and  France.  The  statue 
rises  two  hundred  feet  in  the  air,  surmounted  on 
the  top  with  a  gilt  angel  of  victory,  as  if  flying 
through  the  air.  When  it  is  lit  up  by  the  setting 
sun,  it  reflects  its  rays  with  gorgeous  brilliancy. 
So  victory  for  the  truth  will  come  in  Berlin. 
The  angel  of  God  will  hover  over  the  city,  and 
then  fly  back  to  the  throne,  bearing  the  news  of 
the  salvation  of  many  souls. 


Date  Due 

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